


Akito and Estelle in Brother Bear

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Brother Bear (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-22 17:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11384580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: To live up to his promise to Ingrid about visiting her grandmother, Akito has Atticus teleport them and the others to meet the aspiring shaman girl who takes them to her grandmother Tanana's village and must learn a very important lesson with a young man named Kenai who has a very low opinion of bears and is soon transformed into one magically by The Great Spirits of their people.





	1. Chapter 1

The kids and their Pokemon gathered together about a week after the adventure with Latios and Latias as Akito promised to visit Ingrid's grandmother's village if he would let her help them during the adventure. Atticus took out his spell book and came to the highlighted teleportation spell and he put his finger on it so he could recite that would take them to the village since they didn't know where it was.

The kids were all excited and ready. Cherry soon came back with Felicity in Simon. Teddy gulped nervously toward Simon as he appeared to be beheading a stuffed bear. Estelle soon held him comfortingly. Teddy nuzzled against Estelle. Estelle giggled as his fur tickled and she smiled to him before kissing his crescent forehead.

"Everyone ready?" Atticus asked.

Everyone told him that they were ready as Mo soon came in to join them.

"All right, here we go," Atticus smiled as he held out his spell book. "'We come to see our friends near and far, We don't know where they could be, even past the stars, Take us to where we can find our friends whether still on Earth or even in Mars'."

Cherry scoffed as she thought that spell sounded ridiculous before they teleported away from home and soon came to where Ingrid was and they all had on fur coats since it was cold.

Ingrid was with her family and Kabutops as they waited for the others to come meet them.

"Sweetie, I don't think we can wait much longer, your grandmother is not a patient woman." Nadia sighed.

Soon enough, Atticus and the others arrived.

"Mother, there they are!" Ingrid called out.

"Oh, and not a minute to spare, now, we must go meet your grandmother." Nadia smiled as she then picked up Roshan.

"Sorry we're a little late." Estelle said.

"Ah, it's so good to see the ones who helped take very good care of my son." Runar smiled to the group.

"Wasn't just us, sir," Akito smiled back. "Manny, Sid, and Diego helped too."

"That is true, now, let's get going." Runar nodded so they wouldn't be late to the ceremony.

"We're excited." Akito smiled.

"Yes, so are we." Nadia smiled back in agreement as she carried Roshan in a sling on her back like many native women did.

"So, who's this ceremony for?" Vincent asked.

"The youngest son of our dear old, no longer with us, friends, Kenai." Nadia informed.

"Ooh." The Pokémon smiled just as Akito noticed animals that other people couldn't see.

"What the?" Akito pondered.

"What happened to Kenai and his brothers' parents?" Estelle asked.

"I'm afraid they died of old age a while ago, but Sitka is a very strong father figure for his younger brother," Runar replied. "I just know that when Roshan becomes of age, he will be a wise and noble leader just like I am back home."

Roshan nodded with a smile.

"Uh, does anybody else see the animals around here?" Akito asked.

"Animals?" The others asked.

"He must be seeing The Great Spirits." Nadia commented.

"Maybe, but then why are most of them with some of the villagers?" Akito asked.

"Those must be their spirit animals/spirit guides/guardians." Nadia said.

Ingrid smiled as she had taught them all about Spirit Animals.

"So, how can Akito see them?" Felicity asked.

"I'm sure my mother can answer that question." Runar looked curious as well as his wife.

"Yes, she knows all and sees all." Nadia agreed.

Akito smiled in interest as he saw the spirit animals on the way to the village. He soon saw his spirit animal/spirit guide next to him. It was that of a wolf which made him smile and the wolf smiled back. Akito began to look for his siblings' and cousin's spirit animals/spirit guides to see if they were around while they went to Ingrid's grandmother. Estelle appeared to have a teddy bear, Vincent had a fox, and Felicity seemed to be followed by a vampire bat which seemed appropriate enough. Akito smiled to them as they were on their way. Ingrid was overly excited to see her grandmother and ran from her parents and the others as she was doing a tribal dance with others to begin the ancient ceremony of their people.

"She sure is excited." Estelle's animal spirit/spirit guide giggled.

"You got that right." Akito's spirit animal guide agreed.

There were three young adult guys who were coming by with satchels filled with food for the village.

"Hey, Kenai's back!" One kid called out.

Runar and Nadia looked over and smiled as they saw that the three brothers were coming back after hunting just before the ceremony. Teddy was about to go and see what the three brothers caught.

"Kenai, are you excited about getting your spirit rock today?" A girl asked as she came with a basket with the other kids.

"It's not a rock," Kenai chuckled as he poured salmon into the basket. "It'll be my totem."

"Ooh!" The kids replied in awe.

"A totem?" Teddy asked Estelle.

"Ingrid says that a totem is a natural object or animal believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and adopted by it as an emblem." Estelle explained as she pat his head.

The kids soon saw Teddy and gasped due to how much he was like a normal Earth bear and didn't know that he was a Pokemon. Teddy waved to the kids with a smile, not knowing their behavior. Estelle hugged Teddy to show the other kids that they didn't need to fear him and kissed the tip of his nose. Teddy giggled from the kiss and smiled to her. This caused the kids to sigh out of relief. Teddy and Estelle smiled to them since they now knew he wasn't an actual bear which was a threat to their village at times, especially for the fish.

"Anyway, I'll probably get a sabre-tooth tiger for bravery, or strength, or greatness," Kenai smiled in excitement about getting his very own totem. "You know, something that fits me."

"How about a mammoth for your fat head?" One of Kenai's brothers smirked before warning him. "Hey, make sure you get that basket tied up."

"Don't worry, no bears are gonna get anywhere near this fish." Kenai said.

"Just tie it up." Kenai's brother said before walking off.

"'Just tie it up'." Kenai mocked him while sticking his tongue out.

"Ingrid, slow down!" Nadia chuckled to her daughter as Roshan was soon waking up.

"I'm just so excited!" Ingrid smiled.

The others chuckled. Kenai's brothers soon ran to see their village elder. Kenai soon ran after the others, but the basket fell since he didn't tie the rope on the trunk, he then ignored it and continued to go as he didn't see it as such a big deal. All the spirit guides were going to the ceremony as well to see who the new spirit guide would be. Ingrid soon got away from her parents as she came to where the dancers were as her grandmother was coming with a torch.

The others smiled since they had never seen Ingrid this happy since they helped reunite her with her family during the Ice Age adventure. Tanana soon threw the torch to begin the ceremony and bowed with everyone.

"Nana!" Ingrid beamed. "Hey, Nana!"

"Ingrid! My, my, how big you've grown." Tanana smiled.

"Hey, Ingrid has a smile." Akito teased to the others since he was the first time to meet her and she rarely smiled.

Ingrid nuzzled noses against her grandmother and smiled up to her as she was the happiest she had ever been.

"When each of us comes of age, The Great Spirits reveal to us a totem that helps guide us through our lives," Tanana told the others as she carried her granddaughter over her shoulders. "Some of us use courage to guide us. Others, patience..." She then handed Ingrid back to Nadia as she was getting Roshan settled. "And some of us, beauty~"

This caused everyone to chuckle.

"Kenai," Tanana called to a certain member of her tribe which made him run with excitement and kneel before her as she took out a paste to mark onto his face. "You nervous?"

"Excited." Kenai smiled to the woman.

'I bet he is.' Estelle thought to herself.

"Ooh, you should be," Tanana smiled to Kenai. "It's a good one."

Kenai smiled back to her.

"Kenai, I have been to the mountain where the lights touch the Earth and the Great Spirits have revealed to me your totem," Tanana began. "To become a man, your actions must be guided by one thing."

The others smiled to this and in anticipation.

"Your totem is..." Tanana drawled out as she took out the totem in a cloth to show him to reveal a bear-shaped stone. "Love!"

"Huh?" Kenai asked out of confusion.

Kenai's brothers seemed to be hiding chuckled to their younger brother's totem. A bear spirit soon appeared next to Kenai.

Akito's eyes widened to that. "So, that really is his spirit animal." He then said.

"Yes, love." Tanana put the totem around Kenai's neck.

"The Bear of Love?" Kenai asked out of mass disappointment.

"A love that connects and unites all living things." Tanana explained with a smile.

Akito soon noticed a second totem covered.

"Who wants to trade?" Kenai whispered to the others.

"There is no trading!" Tanana scolded before bonking him on the head. "Oh, Kenai... Love is the most precious of totems. It reveals itself in unexpected ways."

Attticus, Mo, and Cherry nodded, knowing that was true.

"Let love guide your actions, then one day, you'll be a man, and we'll place your mark next to those of our ancestors." Tanana continued to Kenai as she showed the wall which had hand-prints all around it.

Kenai soon came up to the wall and looked to his own hand before the elderly woman raised it to the crowd and which caused for everyone to cheer. Akito was curious about the second totem and who it was for and where his question was going to be answered as Ingrid whispered to Tanana of who she thought the second totem was for.

"Oh, Nana, don't forget what I told The Great Spirits to tell you before we traveled here." Ingrid whispered to her grandmother.

"Not to worry, my dear, I haven't forgotten." Tanana smiled back to her granddaughter.

The two of them soon looked at Akito before Tanana turned to the villagers.

"Akito Fudo, though not a member of this tribe, The Great Spirits have asked me to bless you with your very own totem." Tanana smiled to the young boy.

This was a surprise to everyone else, besides Tanana and Ingrid.

"Way to go, Baby Atticus." Cherry droned, using her old nickname for Akito since he had been born.

"It is with great honor and responsibility that I bestow upon you, The Wolf of Brave Intelligence." Tanana rewarded Akito with a wolf totem which made Kenai very jealous since his bear symbolized love.

The totem was soon placed around Akito's neck. Mo sniffled as she felt so proud of her younger son. Akito smiled proudly as he now had his very own totem. Roshan even clapped and cheered for Akito with the other villagers. Tanana soon hugged both Kenai and Akito.

After the ceremony, Akito was admiring his totem as Nadia told Tanana about Akito and what he saw.

"He can see the Great Spirits, huh?" Tanana asked.

"Yes, he says he can," Nadia nodded. "He's not even one of us. What does this mean?"

Tanana hummed as she had an idea what this meant.

"Is this normal?" Nadia asked her mother-in-law.

"Well, this has happened before." Tanana said.

"Really?" Nadia asked. "When?"

"Long ago," Tanana informed as she led the way. "Much like Ingrid, there was a visitor outside of the village. Due to accepting the culture and becoming one with the rituals, they began to see The Great Spirits like our ancestors could."

"Amazing." Nadia smiled.

"I always knew that once she was born, Ingrid was a special girl and she would make very special friends someday." Tanana smiled back proudly.

"And she has." Nadia said.

"She clearly has shaman material," Tanana smiled. "When she's a bit older, I'd love to mentor her."

Nadia smiled back and they soon shared a hug together.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is pretty cool." Vincent smiled at Akito's totem as he took a look at it.

"It certainly is." Akito smiled.

"Oh, Kito, I'm so happy." Estelle beamed to her twin brother.

"Same here." Akito smiled.

"There he is," Kenai's younger older brother smirked and grabbed him in a headlock with a noogie. "Come 'ere, Lover Boy!"

"That's Denahi." Ingrid told the others as she carried Roshan while he appeared to be suckling on her Pokeball.

"He seems to be teasing Kenai." Vincent said.

"It's what brothers do." Akito sighed with a small smirk.

"Leave me alone." Kenai tried to avoid his brother.

"Kenai, wait," Denhai told his younger brother which made him roll his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Kenai asked out of surprise.

"Your totem, I think it's really great." Denahi smiled. 

"You do?" Kenai asked.

"Yeah, and I made you something." Denahi replied as he reached into his pocket.

"I don't think Kenai is going to like his gift." Vincent said.

"What makes you say that?" Snow White asked.

"I smell flowers." Vincent replied.

A flower wreath was in fact thrown at Kenai as his older brother teased him for having a love totem.

"Oh, brother." Estelle rolled her eyes.

"Well, isn't that nice?" Kenai's oldest brother came over with a proud smile. "Instead of fighting, you're giving each other flowers."

"Yeah, isn't it lovely?" Denahi taunted Kenai. "He's so in touch with his totem already."

Kenai soon forcefully gave the flower wreath back Denahi.

"Hey, Dog Breath, go take care of the fish." Kenai's oldest brother told Denahi while pointing to the three.

"Sure." Denahi replied before continuing to tease Kenai.

Kenai was soon about to throw a rock at Denahi.

"Kenai..." The eldest warned the youngest.

"Someday, I'm gonna..." Kenai growled about Denahi. "He's just such a!"

"Hey, Bonehead," The eldest playfully hit the back of his head as he took the rock away from his youngest brother. "Just because his totem's wisdom doesn't mean he's wise. I mean, look at him."

Denahi was making his way to the fish while still taunting Kenai, not knowing his footing. He yelped as a sleeping dog had scared him and three ladies greeted him which made him back up and the dog soon bit him right on his butt which made his brothers cringe, though with small smirks at his humiliation.

"Guess the Spirits messed up on both of our totems." Kenai commented.

"Sitka, show us your totem." Ingrid told the eldest brother.

"Ooh! Ooh! Yeah!" Estelle smiled in agreement.

"Well, I did feel the same way after Tanana gave me mine." Sitka admitted as he then showed his totem which was that of a majestic bird. 

"No way!" Kenai shoved him.

"No, really," Sitka replied as he showed them all his totem. "I said, 'The Eagle of Guidance? What does that mean?'. But now that I'm older, I know it's about being a leader and keeping an eye on you two." he then smirked playfully to Kenai before getting him in a headlock.

"Now if only Denahi could be like you." Estelle smiled.

"I just hope someday my little brother will be like you." Ingrid added to Sitka.

"I'm sure he will." Sitka smiled, ruffling up Roshan's hair which made him giggle.

Kenai sighed as he stared at the palm of his hand. "I just wanna get my hand print on that wall."

"I'm sure you will." Vincent said.

"He's right," Sitka agreed. "Just be patient, Kenai. When you live by your totem, you will."

"Really?" Kenai smiled.

"Guarantee it." Sitka smiled back and soon took his hand.

Vincent soon looked to Akito and soon hugged him and gently tugged on his bandanna playfully.

"Hey!" Akito pouted.

"I think Akito has lived up to his a couple of times." Estelle smiled.

"Which is why I've found him during your and Aleu's quest from our first meeting." Ingrid agreed.

"I can't believe how long ago that was," Estelle replied. "It feels like only yesterday, and you've helped us so much through more and more adventures."

"That's so true." Akito smiled.

"But, come on," Kenai still complained. "The Bear of Love? I mean, a bear doesn't love anyone. They don't think, they don't feel, I mean, they're--"

Everyone soon looked to the ground to see paw-prints with arrays of the fish from earlier. 

"They're thieves!" Kenai soon finished.

"Uh-oh." Estelle said.

"You didn't tie it up, did you?" Denahi glared at his brother with some other villagers.

"Uh..." Kenai stammered.

"You should've gotten the Totem of Pinheads!" Denahi glared.

"There's no totem for that." Ingrid said.

"Knock it off," Sitka scolded. "We'll just make another basket."

"We?" Denahi scoffed. "Oh, no! It took me two weeks to make that basket. Get Lover Boy here to do it. He's the one who's messing things up all the time."

"Is he blaming Kenai?" Kenai's spirit animal guide asked.

Akito looked around and soon saw the spirit animal beside the disgruntled youngest brother.

"Typical Kenai." Denahi scoffed.

"All right!" Kenai glared as he took out a hunting spear. "I'll go get your basket."

"Kenai, wait!" Sitka called out. "Kenai!" He then glared right at Denahi and even crossed his arms to blame him for making their brother storm off like this.

"What?" Denahi asked.

Sitka shook his head as he didn't like how Denahi treated their little brother.

"Oh, poor Kenai, I should probably do something." Akito said before going off to find the young man as his spirit animal guide known as the wolf began to follow after him.

The others felt concerned, but they let him go.

Akito and his spirit guide followed Kenai and so did his spirit guide. "Gotta help Kenai before he does something stupid." he told himself as he ventured through the forests after Kenai and their spirit guides followed them.

When Kenai found the basket, it was torn to shreds. He kicked around in frustration until he heard the low growling of a bear. Not too far away, there was a bear who appeared to be looking for someone, but soon looked back as Kenai threw rocks and twigs against the base, and where the bear was now looking angry and ready to attack. 

Kenai's brothers were soon coming to look for him. Akito was ahead of them and where he saw Kenai. The bear had a low growl against Kenai and Akito. Akito soon listened closely and soon could tell that this bear was a female.

"Calm down, girl," Akito said. "We don't want any trouble."

Kenai looked around as he thought he heard another voice.

"GO AWAY!" The bear roared as they were disturbing her.

"Okay, okay, we'll leave." Akito said.

"Akito, you can't just talk to a bear, there's no reasoning with them unless you kill them!" Kenai told him.

"Kenai, don't!" Akito cried out. "She's a--"

Unfortunately, Kenai did not listen to him. Denahi and Sitka came for Kenai to protect him against the bear who Akito could tell was a mother bear. The only question was where was her cub? Kenai was nearly thrown off the edge of the cliff.

"Ma'am, please, calm down, we're sorry we disturbed you," Akito told the mother bear as Denahi and Sitka began to climb up for their little brother. "Kenai was just angry because you might have accidentally tore the basket that had the fish in it apart."

"Kenai!" Sitka called out and reached for his youngest brother's hand.

"Sitka, no!" Kenai told him. "You gotta get out of here! The bear!"

"More intruders?!" The bear snarled before going to attack Sitka.

"Sitka, behind you!" Akito warned.

"Go away!" The mother bear roared at Sitka.

"Mrs. Bear, please, stop!" Akito begged until Denahi made it worse by throwing rocks at the bear. "Denahi, not helping!"

"Come on, Bear, come this way!" Denahi glared as he held his own spear.

The mother bear snarled and then came toward him as Kenai climbed back up the mountain while Sitka helped him up. Akito soon looked around and soon found the bear cub.

"Mama?" The bear cub looked around. "Mama!" 

Akito came toward the cub which startled the cub at first since he was a human and he knew humans as hunters. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." The boy promised the lone bear cub.

"Promise?" The bear cub asked. 

"I promise." Akito replied.

"I didn't know you guys could talk to us... At least that's what Mama told me." The cub said.

"Most humans can." Akito said.

"My name's Koda." The bear cub smiled.

"That's a nice name," Akito smiled back. "My name's Akito."

"Its nice to meet you." Koda said.

"Nice to meet you too," Akito smiled before looking around. "Are you by yourself?"

"Yeah, Mama usually hunts alone so I don't get hurt." Koda replied.

"That's smart." Akito said.

"She's been gone for a while though, usually by now we're with the others or just me and her, eating." Koda replied.

They soon heard the ice cracking.

"Did you hear that?" Akito gasped.

"The ice!" Koda panicked.

They both saw that Sitka had made the ice crack and possibly break.

"One of those monsters are gonna fall," Koda whispered. "They're so scary, especially with those sticks."

"They're called spears," Akito said. "Anyway, I have to go now."

"Oh, okay." Koda replied.

Akito rushed over to see if he could help with anything. The mother bear went against Sitka as Kenai was helping Denahi up to safety from the ice ledge.

"Sitka, what are you thinking?!" Akito yelped as he thought Sitka was crazy having to make the ice crack.

"I have to save them..." Sitka panted before grunting as he stabbed his spear into the ice as the mother bear came toward Kenai and Denahi. 

"NO! DON'T!" Akito begged.

"He's doing the one thing that can save them." Sitka's spirit guide said.

"Eagle..." Akito whispered.

"It's going to be a heroic sacrifice, you have a very wonderful heart like he does though." The spirit guide told Akito.

"Thanks." Akito smiled.

The spirit guide ruffled Akito's bandanna covered head.

Akito chuckled. "Your feathers tickle."

Sitka knew that he was risking his own life, but it was to protect his brothers against the bear. What he didn't know was that the bear was only protecting her cub.

Akito panicked as Koda was about to become an orphan. "I have to do something." He said to himself.

The mother bear tried to get away from the cracking ice only to fall with Sitka. Without thinking, Akito flew down and saved Sitka, knowing Koda's mother wouldn't get crushed by the ice. Sitka only bowed his head, but glanced up ever so slightly, and where, he was swooped into safety. The ice and glaciers soon fell into the water down below and splashed.


	3. Chapter 3

And where luckily, Koda's mother survived and so did Sitka and Akito. Koda lay down and sighed as he felt bored and alone, completely unaware of what was happening with his mother, Akito, and Sitka.

"Kenai must learn a lesson about bears, he thinks they're all the same." Akito's spirit guide told him, though was proud of the sacrifices he made for the innocent ones.

"I agree." Akito whispered to his spirit guide.

"The Great Spirits have big plans for Kenai..." The spirit guide replied. "To understand the bear, he must become a bear."

Akito nodded in understanding. Kenai and Denahi looked down below, thinking that their brother had been killed since he had fallen with Koda's mother. To their relief, he was alive, but that didn't mean Kenai was going to let Koda's mother go for what almost happened to Sitka. 

"Koda? Koda?!" Koda's mother roared after she came to the surface, looking for her lost cub before going to dry land to shake off the freezing water. She soon went to try and find her cub.

"Come on!" Kenai told Denahi before running off.

The two climbed down as the mother bear went after her cub in deep worry.

"Oh, this can't end well." Denahi's spirit guide which was a wolf sighed. 

"SITKA? SITKA!" Kenai called out as he and Denahi ran to find their brother, hoping he was still alive, and where they soon saw him alive with Akito who was surpringly flying down to them with Sitka alive.

Sitka soon woke up while coughing heavily.

"Ooh, you're weak," Akito cooed. "Here, let me help you."

"Thanks... Strange boy..." Sitka muttered wearily.

"My name's Akito." Akito told him.

"Thanks... Akito..." Sitka said.

Akito then began to heal and comfort Sitka since he was quite weary from the iceberg fall with Koda's mother.

They were soon back in the village so Sitka could rest. Ingrid carried Roshan while Nadia and Runar checked out Sitka while he lay in their bed for right now. Luckily, there were no bad injuries thanks to Akito's quick save. 

"You're lucky that Akito saved you when he did," Nadia told Sitka. "You could've been killed."

"Yeah," Sitka agreed. "Thankfully, he was there."

Kabutops came out of his Pokeball to help comfort Sitka. Sitka smiled to him and gently pet the fossilized Pokemon.

"That's a good Kabu." Ingrid approved of her Pokemon.

Kabu smiled at his trainer.

"At least I got to save Denahi and Kenai from the bear, though she didn't seem that bad." Sitka replied.

"Oh, you could tell she was a female, good," Nadia replied. "She was probably a mother looking for food for her cubs."

"She has to be the one who found our salmon basket though." Sitka nodded.

"And knowing Kenai, he won't let the bear stay alive for what almost happened." Runar said.

Sitka sighed. "He's always been like that, he is the youngest of us."

"Brothers, huh?" Ingrid replied, though she got along okay with Roshan right now since he was just a baby and she was almost ten.

"Well, you better get some sleep." Nadia suggested.

"Yes, rest is what you need." Runar agreed with his wife.

"Thank you all very much." Sitka said.

The family then let him get some rest and they let him alone for now.

"Thank you for bringing him." Ingrid told Akito.

"I was happy to." Akito said.

"Such a good soul," Ingrid replied. "Are you older than Estelle?"

"Yeah, by a few minutes," Akito said. "My big brother instinct kinda comes out when it comes to her."

"She's lucky to have you as one of her brothers." Ingrid said.

"Oh, thanks, Ingrid." Akito smiled.

"My pleasure." Ingrid nodded. 

"Ash seems like a good brother too to Emi," Akito looked away softly. "She's such a lovely girl... So pretty... So affectionate..."

Ingrid smirked.

"Aw, come on, like you haven't been in love." Akito folded his arms.

"Not really." Ingrid shook her head.

"Never?" Akito asked.

"Nope, I'm too busy to fall in love," Ingrid replied. "I look after you guys in your subconscious."

"Aw, come on, Ingrid," Akito told her. "There must be someone you like... Does Kenai have someone he likes?"

"In another village, there's a girl named Nita, but that's another story." Ingrid remembered.

"Okay." Akito said.

Ingrid suddenly stopped and held her heart before falling to her knees.

"You okay, Ingrid?" Akito asked.

"An animal has been severally injured..." Ingrid grunted as she looked like she was in great pain.

"Oh, no..." Akito said. "Kenai."

"Go to him," Ingrid begged. "I know that you'll do the right thing."'

"Stay safe, Ingrid." Akito told her before going to find Kenai.

And where he soon saw the spirits go to one mountain, telling him that was where Kenai would be. He took a deep breath as he began to climb his tiny body up the mountain, though luckily, he was strong for his age. Then he remembered he could just fly.

Kenai and Denahi hung their heads until they saw Akito.

"Don't worry about your brother," Akito told them. "He's just fine, he's just with Ingrid's family."

"That's great." Denahi said.

"So, he didn't die?" Kenai asked.

"Luckily I saved him just in time," Akito replied. "Now, about that bear..."

"You're right, that bear hurt Sitka, I have to get rid of it." Kenai said.

"What?! No!" Akito's eyes widened as he went off again with his spear, now he felt even more mad about his totem. "Ugh, somebody's gotta nail that guy's feet to the floor..." he groaned before going after the young man.

"You sounded just like Sebastian." Atticus chuckled to his younger/stronger son.

"Hey, Dad!" Akito smiled.

"Everything okay?" Atticus smiled back.

Akito then sighed to a frown. "Kenai is being difficult."

"That must be a pain." Atticus said.

"It is..." Akito sighed. "He wants to kill a cub's mother just because she was trying to find food for her cub and he made a mistake with the salmon basket."

"Sounds like this is more Kenai's fault than the mother bear's." Atticus crossed his arms.

"Looks like it." Akito said.

"Want some help?" Atticus asked.

"Oh, I dunno..." Akito looked away. "Dad, did you ever find out what your spirit animal was when you went on adventures with Mom and Aunt Cherry?"

Atticus simply smiled sheepishly.

"Is that a no?" Akito asked.

"Yeah, that's a no." Atticus said.

"Oh, shame..." Akito replied. "Anyway, you wanna give me a hand?"

Atticus smiled and then decided to fly with him. Akito looked up and flew after him.

The two of them followed after Kenai.

"Zadavia called the other day." Atticus made conversation.

"Oh, cool," Akito smiled. "How's she and Uncle Planet doing?"

"Just fine," Atticus smiled back. "She's a proud mother, though Hercules is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear of Star Command."

"Not surprised." Akito smiled.

"Maxima likes it too, though not as much," Atticus replied. "They just said if you guys wanna babysit, just be ready for Buzz Lightyear marathons."

"Okay." Akito said.

When they hit the ground, they saw Kenai's totem had been ripped off from his neck and he had gone on to find the bear that could had killed his brother.

"We better keep up with him." Akito said.

Atticus picked up the totem and put in his pocket as he followed his younger son who was so much like him as a child in behavior and demeanor. Kenai was following the paw prints that had come from Koda's mother, and where he was going to make sure she was gone for good. 

"Careful with that magnifying glass, Akito or you'll give yourself eye strain." Atticus advised.

"You sound like a mom, Dad." Akito replied.

"I know," Atticus chuckled. "Your Grandma Emily used to tell me that too."

"Aw!" Akito smiled.

Atticus and Akito followed after Kenai, passing various animals of the forest. Kenai did not stop or rest until he would find the mother bear and make her pay for nearly killing Sitka, and where he soon stopped at some berry bushes. Atticus and Akito took a water bottle break since Kenai briefly stopped. He was keeping himself hidden so he wouldn't be spotted by the bear.

He emerged from the bushes, only to not see the mother bear, but a different animal before scaring it off with his spear. Kenai soon looked around and threw down his spear and sat down, about to eat some berries since he didn't think he found the bear, but he then heard the mother bear. He ducked away, trying to avoid being seen by her and soon reached for his spear. Koda's mother was now looking for Koda.

She sniffed around as Kenai hoped she wouldn't notice him as he grabbed his weapon. He then yelled out as he rolled over with his spear and soon came out of the bushes only to see that Koda's mother had vanished yet again, though he could see her not too far away from him as she called out for her cub. And where the chase was on. Kenai narrowed his eyes as he went after Koda's mother. Atticus and Akito followed, they were quick, but they tried not to overdo it. 

Akito stuck his tongue out as he remembered some methods that he learned from Rev. He saw all the spirits following, wanting to see if Kenai would truly give in to anger. "Dad, do you see what I see?" he asked. "It's the Great Spirits that Ingrid and her grandmother talked about."

"Hmm... They must be wanting to see if Kenai will listen to his heart or will continue down the path of hatred." Atticus said.

"I hope he listens to his heart, Dad." Akito frowned.

"Nothing is impossible if you follow your heart." Atticus replied, quoting Jacqimo from Thumbelina.

"I always liked that bird." Akito smiled.

"Yeah, he was cool." Atticus smiled back.

They continued to follow Kenai. Kenai was soon right behind the mother bear.

"Koda?" Koda's mother wondered as she felt another presence behind her, but it was not her cub, and where this would be her last day living. 

Felicity held her stomach and her heartbeat beated in her head and she looked rather sick to her stomach. "Someone... Is dying..." She told the others due to her hidden sense.

"Oh, dear..." Estelle frowned.

Mismagius comforted Felicity as she looked sick to her stomach since death was not too far away.

"Mama?" Teddy asked. "Is Felicity okay? She looks sick."

Estelle didn't know what was happening. Simon crawled toward his older sister.

"I don't feel so good..." Felicity held her stomach as she looked sick, though wasn't.

"KENAI!" Akito and Atticus yelled out as they finally caught up to Kenai, but gasped in horror. They saw Koda's mother, dead.

"Kenai..." Akito whispered in heartbreak. "How could you?"

"What?" Kenai replied. "It's just a bear. It hurt Sitka."

This was all the spirits had to hear.

Atticus looked up into the sky as it suddenly got dark. "The Great Spirits..." he then whispered, knowing this based on what he had heard from Runar and Nadia.

A glowing blue aura came down from the sky and it poured down almost like water.

"Incoming!" Akito called out.

SPLASH!

Lightning flashed briefly as the Great Spirits had come down to teach Kenai a lesson the hard way about the life of a bear. Kenai felt confused and bewildered and even touched his spear to the aura to see several other spirit animal guides of all sorts, and where the three of them were amazed. Akito held onto Atticus, though he wasn't totally scared, just shocked, but his father had the same reaction. Sitka's eagle soon came down while taking Koda's mother's spirit and was going to transform Kenai into a Kodiak grizzly bear.

"Ooh." Akito smiled.

"That is so strange and awesome at the same time." Atticus commented.

Denahi was climbing upward as Kenai transformed into a bear after the eagle picked him up. And where the eagle was going to make it look like Kenai was killed while he was actually a bear. After the Spirit Spell, the clouds closed up and it began to sprinkle in rain.

"Really?!" Atticus asked out of annoyance.

"It's not so bad, Dad..." Akito said nervously.

Denahi soon came up to the cliff and only saw his brother's clothes and the bear which made him fear the worst.

"We better go." Atticus said.

Akito heard Denahi, but Atticus took his hand and they went off together while in the rain.

"Nana, there is a disturbance in our tribe." Ingrid said as she held Roshan in her arms.

"Yes, dear, the Great Spirits have told me about Kenai, and he has been transformed." Tanana replied.

"Oh, dear..." Ingrid gulped.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, my child." Tanana nodded.

Roshan soon started to whimper.

"He's hungry." Ingrid said as she then took a bottle and carefully fed her brother.

Roshan then soon started to drink his mother's milk. 

"I know you will be a great shaman when you grow up, Ingrid." Tanana told her granddaughter.

"I will try, Nana." Ingrid bowed her head.

Sitka was soon heard waking up.

"Sitka is awakening, he must be restful now." Tanana told her granddaughter.

"Ugh... What's going on?" Sitka grunted as he woke up and held his head.

"Kenai is about to learn about his spirit animal." Ingrid said.

"It'll be a good lesson for him, he didn't get hurt, did he?" Sitka replied.

"The Great Spirits are doing their job for your brother." Tanana comforted him.

"I know." Sitka said.

"Ingrid, I'd like you to come with me when the rain clears." Tanana told her granddaughter.

"Yes, Nana, I promise." Ingrid nodded.

Meanwhile...

Cherry was checking out Felicity after Mismagius told her that she felt sick, though she didn't find any illness. "She seems to be fine to me..." she then shrugged to the Ghost Pokemon. "Maybe she's just homesick."

"I'm sure that she's sick." Mismagius said.

Felicity moaned as sweat began to bead down her face. Mismagius soon started to wipe the sweat off her.

"It must be anxiety." Cherry assumed.

Mismagius knew that wasn't it.

"Get some rest, Flick," Cherry told her daughter. "It's been a long day for everyone."

"Okay, Maman." Felicity replied.

"Let's all get some sleep." Mismagius said.

"Yes..." Cherry agreed.

The rain grew heavier, but not into a dangerous storm and soon, everyone went straight to bed and Ingrid would lead her grandmother of where Kenai was, but now as a bear and no longer as a human.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was a bright and shining morning. Roshan crawled out first before standing up and he seemed to love the glowing of the beautiful morning.

Ingrid smiled as she saw her baby brother as she woke up before gasping. "Oh! I have to meet Nana to show her where Kenai is." She soon rushed off where Tanana was.

Kabutops came out of his Pokeball and soon went after his trainer.

Tanana was awake and she smiled softly.

"Sorry I'm late, Nana." Ingrid replied.

"That's okay, dear, now, tell me where Kenai is." Tanana smiled sweetly.

"He will most likely be at a river in the forest." Ingrid said.

"Lead the way, my dear." Tanana told her.

Ingrid nodded and then led the way for her grandmother of where the new bear of the forest was.

They came into the forest where a knocked out bear was in the river and they decided to move him to dryer ground. They soon saw him waking up.

"There he is, Nana." Ingrid told her grandmother.

"So, Kenai," Tanana smiled as she took out a damp rag for him to wash his face. "You've decided to join the living... Ooh, that's quite a bump ya got there. That must've been one heck of a ride down the rapids, huh?"

"Looks like it." Ingrid agreed.

"Tanana..." Kenai muttered before holding his head and gasped as he realized he had to tell her something, though there was a great difference between Tanana and her granddaughter.

"Kenai, honey, shh, shh, shh..." Tanana shushed him with an apologetic smile. "I don't speak Bear."

Kenai looked confused about why Tanana said that.

"Look here." Ingrid told Kenai and made him look into the water.

Kenai looked at her and then looked into his reflection only to see that he was in fact a bear. He looked at his paws and fur in overwhelment before wiggling his tiny tail and yelled out which made nearly every animal in the forest hear him and he was having a nervous breakdown.

"I don't think he's well." Ingrid told Tanana.

"He appears to be having a nervous breakdown." Tanana replied.

Kabutops soon tackled Kenai to make him go down to the ground and settle down.

"All right, all right, all right," Tanana told Kenai. "Kenai, listen to me... Sitka did this."

Kenai settled down, but felt confused.

"I'm surprised that the Great Spirits turned him into a bear," Ingrid told her grandmother after picking up her Pokemon. "It must be for a very valuable lesson."

"You might be right, dear," Tanana agreed with her granddaughter as she observed Kenai's new features. "Kenai is going to get a new perspective on things. Oh, do you see in black and white or color?"

Kenai growled since she was invading his personal space and didn't like being a bear one bit.

"Hey, don't blame Nana for this!" Ingrid scolded. "You got yourself into this mess. If you want to change, take it up with your brother's spirit animal guide."

Kenai didn't know how to do that.

"You'll find him on the mountain, where the lights touch the Earth," Tanana explained to Kenai as she drew a picture in the ground. "He'll help you make up for what you've done wrong."

"That's right." Ingrid nodded.

"But I didn't do anything wrong," Kenai said out of confusion only to see the elder woman had gone. "Tanana? Tanana! Tanana, w-wait, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"The Great Spirits disagree." Ingrid folded her arms and Kabutops copied her for emphasis.

"But what did I do?" Kenai asked. "I don't even know how to get there!"

"You'll have to ask for help." Ingrid replied.

"Oh, so you can talk to animals, but Tanana can't?" Kenai asked. 

"The rules are complicated, but yes." Ingrid nodded.

They soon heard two voices.

"What happened to them?"

"I dunno..."

"Well, they were right here a second ago, and now they're gone."

Ingrid walked over with Kabutops as they saw two squirrels talking and one of them had fat cheeks. "Typical." The native girl sighed to herself.

"Hey, you!" Kenai's eyes widened at the critters. "You just talked!"

"Just back away, real slow like..." The first squirrel told the second one nervously since Kenai was a bear.

"How'd you do that?!" Kenai asked them which only scared the rodents away.

"You just scared them." Ingrid said.

"Are we there yet?!" A young voice asked before Kenai looked up to see birds flying in a V in the sky.

"Don't make me turn this formation around!" An older voice scolded.

"See?" Ingrid smiled. "All animals can talk."

"Even me." Kabutops added and Kenai could now understand him too which really surprised him. 

Kenai looked so overwhelmed and a couple of moose overheard him, not seeming really scared of him as they were eating some grass.

"Those two aren't scared." Ingrid smiled.

Akito and the others soon arrived in the forest. Felicity looked a little better than last night as she followed after.

"Kenai, Ingrid, and Kabutops should be around here somewhere," Akito said as he took the lead. He soon saw the two moose. "Two meese!" he pointed out.

"It's mooses." Estelle replied.

"You're both wrong," Vincent came between his younger twin siblings. "It's just moose."

Akito and Estelle groaned. The two moose soon notice them.

"Hey, those are sure some smart kids." One moose said to the other.

"Smarter than you, eh?" The other moose chuckled.

"Hi." Akito greeted.

"You're not hunters, are ya?" The first moose asked.

"Nope, you're safe with us." Akito promised.

"Whew!" The moose sighed in relief.

"I've never met a moose up close before..." Felicity said as she came toward the two. "Do you know Bullwinkle?"

"'Fraid not." The first moose chuckled.

"So weird to talk to humans, eh?" The second moose said. "Also, those weird pets of theirs."

"Hey!" The Pokemon glared.

"They are called Pokemon." Akito and Estelle firmly told the moose.

"Is that Japanese?" The first moose asked.

"What're you talkin' about, eh?" The second moose replied. "You don't know Japanese!"

This caused for the group to groan.

Kenai soon came toward the moose which worried them since he was a predator and they soon got their antlers stuck together.

"I better help them with that," Akito sighed as he came toward the moose who seemed to be brothers. "Hold still, you two."

The moose struggled nervously, but soon held still, they urged him to hurry up because there was a bear. Akito stuck his tongue out as he soon got the moose out of their situation.

"There ya go." Akito told them.

"Gee, thanks." The second moose smiled.

"That's a good kid, maybe all humans aren't that bad." The first moose agreed.

"Yep," Akito said. "Not all humans are bad."

The others came over to the two moose.

"Don't worry about Kenai, he won't hurt you." Ingrid told the moose while Kabutops nodded in agreement.

"She's right, I'm not eating anybody." Kenai added which relieved the two moose instantly.

"So, what are your names?" Pupitar asked.

"My name's Rutt." The first moose replied.

"And I'm Tuke, eh?" The second moose added.

"Nice to meet ya." Estelle said.

"How's it goin', Bear?" Tuke asked Kenai. 

"Don't call me that." Kenai groaned.

"Sorry, uh, Mr. Bear?" Tuke replied.

"His name is Kenai." Akito said.

"I mean, I'm not a bear," Kenai told the two moose. "I hate bears."

"Well, gee, eh?" Rutt chuckled. "You're one big beaver."

"No kiddin', eh?" Tuke laughed with him.

"Do you two believe in the Great Spirits?" Estelle asked.

"Heard of 'em, but I'm afraid we don't know about 'em touchin' the Earth, we've heard humans like her talk about 'em though." Rutt said, pointing to Ingrid.

"So, you don't know where we can find the spot?" Ingrid asked.

"Sorry, I'm afraid we don't, why do ya need to go there anyways?" Rutt asked.

"Because I'm not a bear, I'm a man!" Kenai told them. "I was transformed into a bear, magically! I-I was lifted into the sky, and... And..."

"Uh-huh..." Tuke blinked before coughing into his hoof. "You're crazy!"

"Oh, gesundheit." Rutt told him, thinking that was a real cough.

"He's not crazy." Ingrid told Tuke.

"Oh, uh, whoever said he was?" Tuke replied. "We understand."

"You do?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah, you see, we're not moose either." Tuke smirked.

"We're not?" Rutt asked.

"You're teasing, aren't you?" Vincent asked, unimpressed.

"Oh, no, no, really, we're like... We're like squirrels." Tuke replied with a smirk. 

"Oh, yeah," Rutt smiled to the other moose who was his brother. "Well, he, he's actually the squirrel, eh? I'm more of a purebred wolverine? Look at these bicuspids..." he then growled.

"Oh, brother." Estelle's male Kirla better known as Derek sighed.

"You said it." Odette agreed with her twin.

"Ugh," Kenai groaned and face-pawed. "Why am I talking to a couple of dumb moose?"

"We're squirrels, eh?" Tuke smirked.

"Wolverine." Rutt snarled.

"I'll find it myself." Kenai complained, walking off one way.

"Uh, I wouldn't go that way, eh?" Rutt told Kenai.

"Why not?" Tuke asked his brother.

Kenai ignored them only to walk into a trap which a rope wrapped around his ankle and he was swiped up while hitting the ground, the moss on the nearby tree, and a boulder. The two moose watched this and eventually got bored and walk away.

"I think that's why." Teddy smirked.

Mismagius floated upward toward the branch and decided to loosen the rope around Kenai's ankle.

"I can get it." Kenai told them.

"You sure?" Mismagius asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kenai replied.

"Well, okay." Mismagius shrugged and came back to the others.

Kenai soon saw a long branch on the ground. He tried to reach for it, and when he did, a certain cub in the woods was wandering around.

"Hey, is the coast clear?" The cub's voice asked.

"Koda, is that you?" Akito asked.

"Oh... Akito, it's just you!" Koda's voice smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Akito asked.

"I thought I could help, but I see this guy found the trap," Koda replied about Kenai's predicament. "I saw it from a mile away, he must be pretty embarrassed. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"You're right about the embarrassed part." Vincent said.

"He needs to get down," Koda said as he picked up the branch. "Let me help."

Kenai panicked as Koda was a little off-balance and accidentally hit him with the branch like a pinata. This seemed entertaining to the teenagers and the Pokemon. 

"It's no use," Koda said after a while. "The only way to get down is to chew your own foot off."

"I don't need some stupid bear's help, I just need the stick." Kenai glared at the cub.

"Okay, here." Koda held it out.

"I think he wants to get it himself." Ninetails said.

"The white fox is right," Kenai replied as he glared at Koda, finding him to be very annoying. "Put it back, where you found it!"

Koda soon followed directions and put the branch right back down on the ground where it was before he moved it. He then decided to sit down to see how Kenai handling this by himself would work out with the teenagers and their Pokemon. While watching, the cub soon decided to tell them all a story. 

"Boy, that tree is strong, huh?" Koda smiled as he sat with the others as time seemed to go by slowly for Kenai as he struggled for the branch. "You know, when I was little, I was really into climbin' trees. All kinds of trees. I climbed pine trees, oak trees, fig trees, maple trees, uh, birch trees, willow trees... My eyes were watering, and my tongue was swollen... And from that moment on, I was more careful about what I lick."

Kenai began to almost get the branch as it was just a few inches away. Koda soon got bored and shoved the branch closer.

"HA!" Kenai smiled as he finally got the branch. "See? It's all about using your head." he then put the branch in his mouth as he tried to get himself down from the tree.

"Oh, he's about to use his head alright." Kabu smirked.

There was then a snap which made Kenai drop the branch and hit his head against the ground. 

"That was funny," Koda smiled. "Do it again!"

"Don't you have someplace to go?" Kenai groaned to him.

"Yeah, the Salmon Run, you should come." Koda replied before looking to Teddy, thinking he was a fellow bear.

"Um, okay." Teddy said.

"It's fine with me." Estelle said to Teddy.

"Thanks, Mama." Teddy smiled.

"How 'bout this?" Koda looked up to Kenai as he dangled upside down. "I get you down and we go together. Deal?"

"Yeah, Kenai, deal?" Akito added.

"Yeah, okay, fine," Keani replied impatiently. "If you can magically get me down, I'll go with you to this... This..."

"Salmon Run." Koda and the others said for him.

"Whatever," Keani replied. "But if you can't... You turn around, walk away, and never come back. EVER!"

"Promise?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah." Kenai replied.

"Pinkie swear." Koda held out one claw.

"Yeah, sure, fine, pinkie swear," Kenai linked his claw against his. "But this is a human trap, and you're just a dumb little bear. So there's really no way you're gonna be able to--"

Koda kicked the trap down with his back hind leg which then freed Kenai, and where he was sent flying out of the tree.

"That had to hurt." Akito winced for Kenai.

"Okay, so what I'm thinking is, we travel by day and sleep at night," Koda suggested. "My bedtime is an hour after sunset... Or I think it's..." he then sniffed the air before running off to hide. "RUN!!!"

"What was that about?" Odette asked.

"Good riddance!" Kenai scoffed as he rubbed his head before he also sniffed the air.

Denahi rushed into the forest, but hid behind a tree as he held his spear as he was going to hunt the bear, not knowing that it was his younger brother.

"Oh, no, it's Denahi." Akito whispered.

The kids went to hide with their Pokemon. Ingrid held Kabutops close as Kenai stayed where he was and then saw his brother. Kenai tried to talk with Denahi, but of course, his brother could only hear growls.

"Oh, this is bad." Pupitar whispered.

Denahi snarled as he was about to stab Kenai right in the chest as he believed that he was the bear who killed his little brother. Akito soon secretly used his super-breath to blow Denahi away from Kenai.

"Show-Off." Vincent whispered.

"It's a living." Akito defended.

Kenai soon took this as he opportunity to run. He blindly ran as he wasn't sure where to go, but he felt shocked that his own brother was going to kill him, but he didn't know that Denahi didn't know that he was the bear himself, and where he soon found a place to hide. The kids hid with their Pokemon, but once the coast was clear, they went to follow Kenai before he would get hurt, or worse.

"How are we all gonna fit in there?" Akito knelt down in front of what looked like an ice cave. 

"Get in your Pokeballs." Ingrid told the Pokemon so it would be easier to get inside with them.

"You got it." The Pokemon replied as they then came back into their Pokeballs and the kids crawled as they went after Kenai into the ice cave to make sure that he was okay.

"Is he gone?" Kenai panted once he looked back and saw them.

"I think so." Estelle whispered. She then looked around with Felicity. 

"This kinda looks like Morgana's lair." Felicity commented to Estelle.

"Only it's not surrounded by water." Estelle replied.

"Or wimpy sharks." Akito snickered.

Denahi was soon above the ice, walking around and that meant they had to be quiet or else he would find them. 

"Guys?" Koda's voice whispered as he was revealed to be there.

Akito soon covered his mouth once he saw where Koda was. Koda muffled and wriggled in his grip. Denahi soon walked away for right now, leaving them alone to where they were.

"Hello?" Koda grunted to Akito. "I can't breathe!"

"Oops, sorry." Akito said as he let go of the bear cub.

Koda gasped once he finally caught his breath. 

They soon came to a rock-covered dry area of the icy cave.

"Why is he chasing me?" Kenai whispered in heartbreak.

"That's what some of them do!" Koda glared in defense as it should've been obvious.

"But I never thought Denahi would try and hunt a bear." Felicity said.

"Yeah, well, lucky for him, he didn't find us," Koda smiled. "'Cuz, when I get in a fight, I go all crazy, and I'm a raging ball of brown fur!" He then moved all around in fights before he fell onto the ground by accident. "I mean, I don't wanna brag or nuthin', but I got some moves."

"Oh, really?" Kenai asked Koda, unconvinced.

Ingrid giggled a little as Koda was kind of funny and adorable.

"Yep, this first one, well..." Koda soon stood up on two legs. "This is a little thing I like to call... THE SLASHER!" he hen slashed the air before falling on his bottom. "And this one, I like to call..." he then stood up again and looked like he was in a karate stance. "THE FLYING FURY OF DEATH!"

"Uh-huh." Akito smirked playfully.

"He's coming back!" Kenai gasped.

"Where?!" Koda looked around before hiding. 

"Typical..." Kenai shook his head with a scoff at the cub.

"Well, the next time we see him--" Vincent started.

"There is no 'we', okay?" Keani cut him off. "And I'm not taking the kid to any Salmon Run."

The Pokemon soon came out of their Pokeballs almost as though they overheard that.

"What?!" Koda yelped.

"But you pinkie promised him!" Teddy added.

"Yeah, well, things change," Kenai glared before leaving Koda. "See ya, kid."

"You can't just leave him!" Ninetails told him.

"Uh... Wait! Uh..." Koda tried to stop Kenai from leaving him forever before he looked a little sad. "The truth is... I got separated from my mom. And now, with this hunter around--"

"Kid, I've got my own problems." Kenai told the cub.

"Kenai, at least hear him out." Pupitar said.

Akito nodded, agreeing with his best Pokemon friend who was like a son to him.

"Aw, come on, please?" Koda pleaded to Kenai. "Can't we just go together? There's a lot of bears and a ton of fish, and every night we watch the lights touch the mountain, and last year--"

"Wait, wait, wait, what'd you just say?" Kenai asked.

"There's lots of bears and tons of fish!" Koda repeated with a smile.

"No, no, you know where the lights touch the Earth?" Kenai asked.

"Yeah!" Koda beamed. "It's at the top of the mountain right by the Salmon Run."

"You're kidding." Kenai deadpanned.

"No, he's right," Ingrid replied as Kabu nodded in agreement. "It's right next door."

Kenai sighed as he had to be forced to do this.

"I promise to help you escape from every trap you walk into." Koda told Kenai.

"I'm not gonna walk into any more--" Kenai glared until he then tripped over a rock and fell flat on the ground. "Traps."

"Sure." Teddy smirked.

"Come on, whatya say?" Koda asked.

Kenai groaned and glanced at the cub out of major annoyance. "You sure you can take us to where the lights touch the Earth?" he then asked the cub.

"Yeah, no problem!" Koda promised.

Ninetails soon got Kenai's ankle free from the rope.

Kenai groaned as he still glared at Koda. "If you slow me down--"

"I won't!" Koda replied. "I promise."

"All right," Kenai soon gave in as he lay down, turning his back at the cub. "We leave first thing tomorrow."

"Okay." Teddy yawned.

Koda breathed in relief, he looked back cautiously before going to join Kenai's side for the night. 

"And keep all that cuddly bear stuff to a minimum, okay, kid?" Kenai glared at that as he asked Koda and then shoved the bear cub away to his own spot so he could sleep in privacy.

"My name's not Kid," Koda glared in defense. "It's Koda."

Kenai nodded and then lay back down to get back to sleep.

Koda cuddled down into the ground and turned over to get some sleep himself. "What's your names?" He then asked Kenai and the others he hadn't met.

Kenai groaned as he tried to ignore him.

"That's Kenai," Ingrid replied. "As for us, we're Ingrid, Estelle, Akito, Vincent, Felicity, and these are our Pokemon: Kabutops, but I like to call him Kabu for short, along with Ninetails, Pupitar, Mismagius, and Estelle likes to call hers 'Teddy'."

"I'm an Ursaring." Teddy said.

"And we're Odette and Derek, but as for what we are, we're Pokemon named Kirlia." Odette and Derek said.

"Interesting names you all have," Koda replied. "It's so nice to see humans who aren't monsters and can talk to animals."

"Those monsters are called hunters." Estelle said.

"My mom calls 'em monsters... So did my dad..." Koda replied, before sounding softer when he mentioned his father.

"What happened to him?" Teddy asked.

"One of the mon--....Hunters got him..." Koda replied softly. "It happened before I was born."

"That's terrible." Teddy frowned.

"Yeah..." Koda replied. "So it's always just been me and my mom... Of course, the other bears at the Salmon Run like Tug."

"That's good." Ninetails said.

Koda yawned. "I'm sure you guys will like it... Especially you, Teddy..."

"I hope so, Koda." Teddy smiled as he felt a best friend bond with the bear cub, even if he was just a Bear-like Pokemon.

They soon fell asleep. It was a good sleep for all of them and they would soon move the next morning. Estelle shivered as she felt quite cold. Akito woke up and noticed this, he then magicked up a pink blanket and wrapped his twin sister in it which made her smile once she felt warm and fell asleep much easier. He then smiled to this and then fell back asleep with the others. Everything seemed nice and quiet.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning came rather quickly. Denahi held his spear as he had come back and went inside to where they were all hiding. Koda soon saw his own reflection. He smiled as he decided to have a little fun by making his head look hilariously huge and he opened his mouth to show his baby fangs.

"Nice chompers." Akito said.

"Hey, thanks." Koda smiled to Akito.

"Makes me think of Chomper, one of Littlefoot's friends." Akito chuckled with a smile back.

Kenai just groaned and rolled his eyes at that.

"Someone is coming." Kabu told the others as he sensed a different presence.

"We better get going." Teddy suggested.

They soon moved outside just as Denahi came inside, feeling bewildered to see nobody in there.

Koda played with his reflection again. "Skinny... Fat! Skinny... Fat!"

"Hey, I've got a mountain to get to," Kenai told him. "Come on, Kid."

"His name is Koda." Akito said.

"Say it with me," Koda added as he sat on top of an iceberg. "Kooooo.... Daaaa."

"Sure your mom didn't ditch you, Ko-Dah?" Kenai mocked.

Teddy simply glared at Kenai. Rutt and Tuke grazed in the grass as Koda was going to show them all where the lights touched the Earth.

"So, how far is the Salmon Run?" Akito asked.

"Follow me, I know exactly where to go." Koda smiled as he took the lead.

"Okay." Teddy said.

Koda led them to a beautiful meadow that looked like Spring as they were on their way to the Salmon Run.

"Ooh." Odette smiled.

"It looks so peaceful here." Estelle beamed before coming to a butterfly.

Everything seemed peaceful.

"Actually, if you really want to know how me and my mom got separated; I was saving this story for the Salmon Run, but I'll tell you." Koda told Kenai as they walked through the meadow together.

Kenai seemed to not be interested. "Oh, that sounds good," He told the cub with a smile. "You should definitely save it."

"You think so?" Koda smiled.

"Oh, yeah," Kenai smirked. "For your friends."

Akito simply rolled his eyes at Kenai.

"Oh... Well, I have some other stories." Koda suggested.

"Tell you what, how about no more talking?" Kenai suggested out of annoyance.

"Then how about singing?" Teddy smirked.

"Yeah!" Koda agreed before he began. 

"No, no, no." Kenai shook his head.

"Tell everybody I'm on my way~" Koda sang anyway. "New faces and places to see~"

Kenai began to try to cover Koda's mouth so he wouldn't be heard. It would be no use though, Koda would keep it up and ignored Kenai's protests. He was just like a little brother for Kenai himself who was the youngest of three brothers. Kenai even tried to stuff him in a log to shut him up, but that just echoed Koda's singing. 

Soon enough, they were on their way as Koda took the lead since he knew where they were supposed to be going. Kenai just looked grumpy about traveling with Koda and soon enough, the bear cub began to copy him like in a brotherly sort of way. Their first stop was to a berry bush and luckily, the berries weren't poisonous, so they could all have some, and where that was a good thing. 

"Oh, if only this forest were as beautiful as Swan Lake, but it is a nice sight." Estelle said before getting some berries for Teddy, Derek, and Odette.

Kenai drew a line in the dirt to separate him and Koda, but the cub had other ideas. Later on, Koda told the other animals of the forest a story, using twigs as antlers while Kenai looked annoyed. Kenai soon bit onto his scruff and dragged him away so they could move on.

The rest of the journey was enjoyable. Akito picked one flower as they went through a field and put it in his sister's hair with a smile, and where she loved it. Akito and Estelle smiled as they shared a sibling hug. For Kenai, it was a little annoying. Koda frolicked through the flower with Ingrid and Kabutops which left Kenai in a fluffy yellow mess until he sneezed.

Later that night, the moon was out and that meant they had to stop for the night, and where the kids began to try to sleep with Kenai. Kenai saw this and tried to move aside. Teddy cuddled against Estelle while Derek and Odette were on her feet like they were all one big happy family. Akito was huddled with his Pokemon. Vincent giggled in his sleep as Ninetails's fur tickled as he hugged the Fox Pokemon.

The next day, they were soon back on the road. Thunder rumbled and lightning flickered as it began to rain, but luckily, it wasn't a storm. It was just a little shower. Koda gently walked through the puddles and splashed as they walked through the rain. The wet puddles looked like honey from the sunrise.

"Ooh." Teddy smiled. He tried to eat the puddles, but stuck his tongue out as it was just rain water that looked like honey.

The wind blew as they were soon over a cliff and they all embraced the wind as it blew their hair and fur back. Even the Pokemon enjoyed the wind. Koda stood up as the wind blew his fur. Kenai soon decided to join in and even he found it to be fun, but soon, the wind stopped blowing, which was bad news for them. 

Once the wind stopped, they all tumbled down the hill together and they ended up falling in a mud pit. And what happened to the top of Kenai's fur on his head caused Koda to laugh. Kenai then smirked as he fluffed up Koda's fur with the mud to spiken it like his was a Mohawk.

"He kinda looks like Wolverine." Akito chuckled to Koda's appearance.

Kenai and Koda soon laughed after wiping the mud off their fur. They soon came out of the mud pit and continued on until they heard two voices after them and turned around to find Rutt and Tuke.

"What do they want?" Pupitar asked.

"Rutt, Tuke, what's up?" Akito asked the moose brothers.

"How's it going, bear, little people, and Pokemon?" Tuke yelped.

"And, uh, smallish bear?" Rutt asked as he spotted Koda.

"Gee, I didn't know Bear had a little brother," Tuke said before ruffling up the top of Koda's head with his hoof. "He's cute, eh?"

"Um, he's not actually Kenai's brother." Ingrid said.

"Okay, there's this hunter, eh?" Rutt tried to warn the others. "Followin' us, and I was just thinkin', if we could just try to hang out with you."

"Yeah, just hang out!" Tuke added nervously.

"But we lost him back at the glacier." Akito said.

"So you don't think he'll follow those?" Rutt asked, pointing to their foot and paw prints.

"Uh-oh..." Felicity frowned.

"This is why I float." Mismagius smirked.

Pupitar, Teddy, and Ninetails glared at her and soon tackled her into a fight cloud for showing off.

"Okay, okay, uncle, uncle!" Mismagius cried out of fear.

"I thought so." Ninetails smirked.

"They are quite nice." Tuke commented about the prints. 

"I've got an idea." Kenai said after he found something to help them keep going without leaving tracks for Denahi.

"What is your idea?" Estelle asked Kenai.

"We hitch a ride." Kenai replied.

"From what?" Akito asked.

Kenai gestured to the mammoths who were walking about.

"I'm okay with that." Vincent said.

"Well, I believe Dad once said 'Where there's a will, there's woolly mammoths'." Akito commented as they rode on the mammoths.

"Oh, if only Manny could've seen you all during the meltdown," Ingrid told the mammoths. "He felt like he was the last mammoth for the longest time until he met Ellie."

"We were there." Akito said.

"Now this is really weird." Koda commented as they rode on the mammoths.

"Move out of the way, eh?" Tuke told his brother. "I'm drivin'!"

"Hey, when can I have a turn, eh?" Rutt asked.

"It's not as easy as it looks, now watch what I do, okay?" Tuke glared as he tried to hold the mammoth's ears like a car steering wheel.

"How can he?" Teddy asked.

"Sit up, Rutt," Estelle told the other moose. "You look like Tuke hunted you."

"I know, eh?" Rutt agreed with her.

"I have the same feeling." Ninetails said.

A gopher woke up and looked in shock as he stood with a rabbit and a raccoon at what he was seeing as the mammoths came by with the kids, bears, moose, and Pokemon.

Koda laughed and waved to the other animals of the forest who were accompanied by some other Pokemon such as Furretts, Diglets, and even Wurmples. 

"Hey, some Forest Pokemon!" Akito spotted with a smile. "Emi would love this."

"Wow, there are even Pokemon here." Estelle smiled.

The tiny animals of the forest and the Pokemon soon decided to join in on the fun. A mammoth trumpeted nervously when mice grabbed onto his tail, but he kept walking.

"Ooh, incoming!" Felicity called out as they were going through water now.

"Quick, to the trunk!" Vincent told them.

Everyone rushed out to the mammoths' trunks as the woolly pachyderms were going under the water now. Koda laughed as he then tried to stand up on the trunk and kept his balance.

Later on, it was soon night.

"Okay, here's how I remember it," Koda told the others. "If the snow's white, it's all right. Yellow and green is just not clean. I found out that one the hard way."

"Did you taste it?" Akito asked with a disgusted look.

"Oh, yeah, that was dumb," Koda nodded which seemed to make his mammoth roll his eyes out of annoyance of the cub's stories. "Oh, that reminds me. Last year at the Salmon Run, my friend Bucky totally dared me, but I heard about this other cub who stuck his tongue to an iceberg! And then he started to float away, so then they had to, like, rip off his tongue! So now, 'he hath tho thalk like dis all the thime', and--"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Kenai asked Koda after closing the bear cub's mouth.

There were soon glowing lights, almost like fireworks.

"Ooh, look!" Koda pointed out. "The night rainbow! You can see The Spirits from here."

"You know about The Great Spirits?" Kenai asked Koda.

"Yeah," Koda smiled. "My grandma's up there and my granddaddy. Mom says The Spirits make all the magical changes within the world. Like how the leaves change color, or the moon changes shapes, or tadpoles change into frogs--"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Kenai replied out of annoyance before turning away from the bear cub. "You know, for change, maybe they could just leave things be."

"Kenai, Sitka is still alive and sometimes, change is good." Vincent said.

"If it wasn't for him or those Spirits, I wouldn't be here." Kenai sulked.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Koda said to Kenai. "If it weren't for the Spirits, I would've never met you."

"That's right." Estelle said.

Kenai looked up at the Great Spirits as they were almost there now.

Koda giggled and nuzzled up against him before falling asleep. "I've always wanted a brother."

Vincent smiled as he had a feeling Koda and Kenai would become brothers. They all soon went to sleep as the Great Spirits were watching over them on their journey.

"I hope Roshan's okay... I wonder if he even misses me or knows I'm gone..." Ingrid sighed before yawning as she cuddled up beside Kabu.

Kabu held her in comfort and fell asleep with her.

"I think he's fine." Akito said as he noticed Roshan on a trunk.

"Huh?" Ingrid looked over only to find her little brother. "Roshan! I told you to stay with Nana, Mother, and Father!"

"Looks like he wanted to come with." Akito said.

Roshan smiled to Ingrid and crawled toward her. "Ing!"

"Okay, you can stay, but be careful." Ingrid said as she hugged her little brother.

"Ing..." Roshan repeated as he nuzzled up against his sister.

"Aw!" Estelle smiled.

"You'll be a wonderful mother someday, I know you will." Akito smiled back to his twin sister.

"I sure hope so..." Estelle sighed. "I also wanna have extraordinary adventures like Sofia and those storybooks."

"And I'm sure you will." Akito said.

Estelle and Akito smiled to each other.

"What do you think your and Emi's kids will be like?" Estelle asked.

"Smart like me and beautiful like her." Akito smiled dreamily.

"And strong like you?" Estelle asked.

"For sure," Akito smiled. "And, um, they'll have all the pets in the world because we'll live in a castle!"

"You've really put a lot of thought into your future." Vincent said.

"I've kinda been dreaming about this since we ended up in Shamouti." Akito smiled bashfully as he remembered the first time they met Ash, Emi, Pikachu, and others.

"Aw!" Estelle smiled.

Akito smiled back before yawning. They all soon went to sleep until sunrise the next morning.


	6. Chapter 6

When everyone woke up, they heard Rutt and Tuke trying to play I Spy against each other, but it was a bit boring and repetitive since all they could see were trees.

"Sounds like we should wake up." Vincent groaned.

Felicity sat up and yawned while rubbing her eyes wearily as Mismagius helped her wake up.

"Two more months, Mom..." Koda mumbled as he wasn't ready to wake up yet.

"Come on," Estelle smiled. "Wake up."

Koda soon snorted and woke up. 

"So, where are we?" Kenai asked.

"Hmm..." Koda hummed as he rubbed his eyes to take a look at their surroundings, but he seemed to be lost.

"Uh-oh..." Pupitar said. "I don't like that look."

"Which way are we going, Koda?" Akito asked while yawning and stretching.

"I think it's that way." Koda replied.

"You think?" Teddy asked.

"Or do you know?" Estelle firmly asked the cub with suspicion.

"That way?" Koda pointed.

"Ugh... Why wasn't I turned into a homing pigeon?" Kenai groaned and rolled his eyes. "Come on..." he then jumped off the mammoth.

"Wait for us!" Akito and the others called out.

"Lucky for you, I've been lost worse than this before," Koda said as he caught up with Kenai. "Last summer, I was digging for roots with Bucky--"

"Ugh, enough with the stories!" Kenai scoffed. "I don't care a-about the time you and Binky found, you know, the world's biggest pinecone ever!"

"Kenai, just calm down." Akito said.

"First of all, his name's Bucky, not Binky!" Koda glared at Kenai. "Second, it wasn't a pinecone, it was a pineNUT, and it was huge! Even bigger than your fat head!"

"They're acting like brothers alright." Vincent chuckled.

"Takes one to know one, eh, Vincey?" Akito smirked.

"Yes." Vincent chuckled as he joined his younger brother.

"Oh, gee, our big guardian bear and Pokemon are leavin', eh?" Rutt noticed.

"Yeah, we better follow 'em." Tuke replied.

They started to try to get off their mammoth. They had trouble and it looked like that they were stuck.

"I'm sorry we're lost, okay?!" Koda told Kenai. "Even though it's your fault."

"He's kind of right." Ingrid said.

"My fault?!" Kenai snarled. "Ugh, that's it!" he then moved quicker to go off on his own without Koda.

"Just remember, if it weren't for me, you'd still be hanging upside down!" Koda glared.

"Yeah, well, better than being stuck nowhere with you and your blabbering mouth," Kenai glared back. "'I'm lost. I can't find my mommy. Will you take me to the Salmon Run?' Why don't you just grow up?"

"Kenai!" Ingrid glared.

"Fine, I'll just go on my own then!" Koda snapped.

"Fine, go ahead then!" Kenai glared.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Koda soon walked away, far from Kenai in anger.

"Kenai, he's just a cub." Akito told him.

"I've had it with that kid, he's been a pain ever since we met." Kenai scoffed.

"Yes, but your job is to look after him," Ingrid replied. "You're the youngest, don't you think maybe your brothers were annoyed by you, but they stand by your side and help you? Denahi loves you deep down even though he picks on you all the time."

Kenai sighed as Ingrid was right.

"This Salmon Run means a lot to Koda," Ingrid told Kenai. "Besides, we all don't know where the lights touch the Earth, not even I know, I won't find out until I'm an adult."

Kenai sighed as he went to find Koda. Ingrid soon looked to Roshan as he smiled up to her, so she gave him a hug. Koda sniffed around as he was going off on his own, but he felt scared because he was just a cub.

"Koda?" Kenai called. "Koda!" He soon saw where Koda was.

The cub was going into a cave that had illustrations on it of animals and certain people who were hunters. It was like when they all saw Manny's original family on the cave wall when they were with Sid and Diego. Akito and the others soon followed them.

"This seems somewhat familiar." Pupitar commented about the cave walls.

"I know the feeling." Teddy said.

They all came into the cave to explore.

"Whoa." Ingid said.

"Yeah... Whoa..." Koda agreed.

Teddy soon noticed the picture of a man fighting a bear.

Kenai looked to the human hand prints and put his paw against them with a small frown before seeming to glare at the picture that Teddy was looking at. Teddy, who might've been a full grown Ursaring now, still felt scared and went behind Estelle, cuddling against her.

"It's okay, Teddy, no one's gonna hurt you." Estelle soothed.

"Besides, you're big and strong now." Vincent said.

"Oh... You must think I'm being silly." Teddy pouted to the humans. 

"No, it's okay, big or little, we all have our fears." Estelle replied in comfort.

"That's right." Akito added.

"Those humans are really scary," Koda hid behind Kenai at the painting. "Especially with those sticks."

Kenai looked down to Koda before looking back at the image. That wasn't too far off from him before being turned into a bear. "Come on, let's go." he then told the cub.

They soon left the cave and continued on their way.

"So, recognize anything yet?" Vincent asked Koda as the cub rode on Kenai's back. 

"Or can't you see past my fat head?" Kenai added as a joke.

This caused for them all to laugh a bit.

"So, do you really think I have a fat head?" Kenai asked Koda.

"Well, if you hunched your shoulders a little, it wouldn't seem so big." Koda advised.

"You mean like this, or like this, or how 'bout this?" Kenai smirked as he moved all around which made Koda laugh.

This sight made Ingrid smile.

CRACK!

"What was that?" Akito looked around.

They soon looked above them to see two rams who were butting into each other.

"Maybe they'll know." Vincent said.

The two rams were hitting each other in order to impress an ewe who they both had their eyes on, but she was clearly not interested in either of them.

"Ohh," Odette smiled. "That's why they're doing that."

"I don't think the girl ram likes it though." Derek chuckled as he saw the ewe roll their eyes.

"She's not interested at all." Odette said.

"Uh, hey, excuse me!" Kenai called out.

"What do you want?!" The first ram asked.

"What do you want?" An echo copied.

"What is that?" The first ram looked around, not knowing what an echo was.

"Uh, just a minute, Bear," The second ram said before yelling out. "HEY, SHUT UP!" 

"Hey, shut up!" The echo copied.

"No, you shut up!" The second ram glared.

"No, you shut up!" The echo copied.

"No, you shut up!" The first ram helped.

"No, you shut up!" The echo copied.

"This will go on for a while." Estelle smiled.

"Should we stop them?" Vincent asked as the rams argued with the echo.

"Nah, I don't think they're gonna be much help anyway." Felicity replied.

"I agree." Mismagius said.

They soon left the rams as they argued with the echo.

"Hey, will ya shut up?!" The second ram glared.

"Hey, will ya shut up?" The echo copied.

"JUST SHUT UP!!!" The second ram snarled.

"Just shut up!" The echo copied. 

"I think their horns are screwed on too tight," Koda giggled before he sniffed the air. "Hey... Wait a second...." he then hopped off from Kenai's back. "I know this place!"

"You do?" Kenai smiled.

"Yeah, the Salmon Run's not far!" Koda smiled back.

Kenai chuckled as he followed after the cub.

"We just have to go through here." Koda said as he then showed them an obstacle which looked like Hell on Earth.

"Oh, my..." Estelle gulped.

"Erm... This could be hard to walk across." Mismagius said nervously as she floated as always.

"Yeah." Teddy nodded.

Mismagius came behind Felicity.

"Don't fly with me, it won't be fair to the others." Felicity told her Pokemon.

"Aw, Felicity!" Mismagius complained.

"We have to be fair." Felicity said.

"Fine..." Mismagius sighed as she soon touched the ground and groaned. "Gah! Solid ground! Ow..."

Felicity rolled her eyes to that.

"Follow Koda's lead." Ingrid advised since the cub knew his way around here.

"You got it." Kabu said.

Koda gleefully led the others through the path while they looked nervous.

"You sure you know where you're going?" Kenai asked the cub.

"Yeah, yeah, follow me!" Koda beamed as he led the way.

"Okay, but don't go too far." Estelle said.

"Boy, it sure is hot out here..." Akito panted slightly.

"Whew!" Vincent sighed as he soon took off his sweatshirt briefly to show a green T-Shirt underneath with a planet sticker on it like The Planeteers.

"Nice shirt." Akito commented.

"It's my favorite shirt," Vincent smiled before yelping at an erupting geyser. "GAH! That scared me!"

"We better look out for those." Ingrid said.

Kenai and the others kept walking. Koda seemed to be going with the Pokemon which worried Kenai and their trainers.

"Oh, no, where did the Pokemon and Koda go?!" Ingrid yelped as she held Roshan's hand.

"I don't know." Estelle frowned.

Kenai soon called out for Koda while the others called out for their Pokemon.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Keldeo asked as he suddenly appeared while panting.

"Keldeo?" Akito asked. "When did you get out of your Pokeball?"

"I thought you could use some help." Keldeo replied.

"Well, that's good, but we have to get through here to get to the Salmon Run," Akito replied. "Not only that, but we got separated from the other Pokemon and Koda."

"What's a Koda?" Keldeo wondered.

"Koda is a bear cub." Ingrid said.

"Oh, I thought maybe that was a new Pokemon." Keldeo shrugged.

"Koda?" Kenai looked around. "Where are you?"

"Ya!" Koda smirked as he jumped onto his back which had caused Kenai to scream. The bear cub laughed as he fell off while Kenai ran to the log in shock and fright. 

"Don't do that!" Kenai glared to the bear cub.

"Scared you, didn't I?" Koda laughed.

"Where are the others?" Akito asked.

"Uh... I dunno..." Koda shrugged. "I thought they were with you guys."

"Over here!" Pupitar told them as they found something that looked scary.

"Thank Celestia, they're safe!" Estelle gasped in relief.

"You gotta see this." Derek said.

The teenagers soon went to join their Pokemon out of concern. Kenai then smirked toward Koda as he decided to get back at the cub.

"Uh-oh, I know that look." Keldeo said.

"By the way Ingrid, sorry for the long wait for us to come." Akito apologized to Ingrid.

"Long wait?" Ingrid replied. "Oh, you mean on your way to the village?"

"He means like the years and years long wait." Pupitar said.

"That's okay," Ingrid replied. "I try my best to be patient like after a long hibernation."

"You're so understanding..." Akito said. "I wish I could be like you." 

"Maybe someday," Ingrid supported him. "I wasn't born this way for sure."

"You must have learned your patience from your parents." Estelle said.

Kenai soon roared right behind everyone and made scary faces, only for him to fail at scaring them.

"Nice try," Koda smirked. "Uh, you got a little spit right there."

"Yeah, nice try though." Teddy added.

Kenai soon wiped his muzzle to get the drool off. 

"Guys!" Koda gasped as he then looked right behind them.

"You're not getting me this time." Kenai chuckled.

The Pokemon soon sensed something coming. 

"No, Kenai, look out!" Koda yelped before running off. 

A spear soon shot from the sky and landed on the ground, luckily, not hitting either of them.

"Oh, no..." Akito frowned.

Denahi growled as he soon jumped down and had a sharp rock in his hand.

"This is bad." Ingrid said.

"Is it me or does he seem older?" Vincent commented about Denahi.

"Come on!" Koda yelped as he ran away since Denahi was a hunter.

"We're running." Akito said.

They soon ran off to avoid both the heat-blasting geysers and Denahi. Vincent panted as he looked a little breathless before he fell to his knees and passed out. Ninetails tried to wake him up, but had a bit of trouble. Ninetails's nine tails soon floated as he was able to use psychic powers. Vincent was knocked out, but he floated from Ninetails's powers. 

Ninetails soon carefully carried his trainer so they could all get out safely. Everyone was soon running. They came to a log and that seemed to be their way out. Kenai carefully carried Koda by his scruff as they were escaping Denahi before he would kill them just for being bears.

"Careful." Ingrid told them.

"Don't look down..." Felicity told herself anxiously.

Each of them were very careful walking across the log. Felicity gulped as she tried not to look down. Mismagius was right behind her, making sure she would be fine and not fall or slip.

"Kenai!" Koda gasped once he saw Denahi not too far behind them with his spear.

Ninetails began to use his psychic powers again. "Easy does it..." He told himself. "Don't drop Papa or anyone else." And where he was soon floating with the others to the other side.

Denahi soon stabbed the log which made it roll slightly.

Ninetails bit his lip as he tried not to let his concentration be ruined. "Almost there, Ninetails, make your family proud!" he told himself. Once on the other side, he stopped using his psychic powers. "Phew!" The white fox Pokemon breathed in relief and wiped his forehead with his paw. "I don't know how I did that, but I did it!"

"Ninetails, that was amazing." Koda said.

Ninetails smiled proudly.

"Vincent, wake up..." Akito and Estelle frowned to their older brother as he seemed to be still knocked out.

Ninetails sat on Vincent's chest and soon licked him awake.

Vincent groaned as he then blinked, but then woke up. "Ugh... My head..."

"You okay?" Ninetails asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks, buddy." Vincent told his Pokemon.

"You must've had some heat frustration." Ingrid assumed.

"Ninetails, when did you get psychic powers?" Teddy asked.

"I... I don't remember..." Ninetails pondered.

"Didn't you teach him that?" Felicity asked Vincent.

"Not that I know of." Vincent admitted. 

"You're part psychic." Ingrid told Ninetails.

"I am?" Ninetails asked. "How do you know?"

"Ingrid knows everything." Kabu mysteriously replied while Roshan wiggled his fingers. 

"I am?" Ninetails asked. "How do you know?"

"Ingrid knows everything." Kabu mysteriously replied while Roshan wiggled his fingers. 

"Nice." Ninetails smiled.

"Come on, guys, we gotta get out of here." Koda told the others.

They soon moved on as they were even closer to the Salmon Run. Denahi was soon climbing up the log to go after them with an exhausted glare. 

"Uh-oh..." Teddy said.

Akito looked down to the log and gently pushed it off the ledge, but made sure Denahi would fall into the water so he wouldn't have a hard landing on the ground which would kill the man if he wasn't careful. 

SPLASH!

Denahi soon grabbed onto the log as he swayed into the water with the spear before he looked up at the bears, feeling like he had failed Kenai and Sitka. 

"Let's keep going." Akito said.

Kenai and Koda soon bowed their heads at Denahi and they kept going on.


	7. Chapter 7

"Why do some humans hate us, Kenai?" Koda asked.

"We're bears." Kenai sighed. 

"And they think bears are killers." Akito added.

"Well, I'm not like that," Koda replied. "Kenai, you're not like that either, and neither is Teddy."

"I guess not all bears," Kenai said. "You and Teddy are okay. Most bears will look for any excuse to attack humans."

"But Kenai, he attacked us." Koda explained.

Kenai looked to him before shaking his head. "Y-You know, you're just a cub... When you're older, you'll understand." 

"He thought Kenai killed his brother." Akito said.

"BEARS! BEARS! BEARS!" A bird shouted as he flew over them.

"We made it, guys!" Koda told the others. "We're here, come on!" 

"Wahoo!" Teddy smiled.

A bunch of birds swarmed in who nearly knocked Kenai down and he ended up in some water. One bear grabbed some salmon in its mouth with a slight snarl. There was another bear with salmon in his own mouth and Kenai felt nervous and overwhelmed before seeing the biggest bear of the bunch as he threw up a salmon before catching it in his mouth. Kenai soon yelled out as he was surrounded by bears like his worst fears had been realized which caused for everyone to stare at him, and he soon stopped screaming. 

"Hey, you're stirring up the water, dude." One bear commented.

"Yeah, try not to scare off the fish there, buddy." The big bear added.

"Uh..." Kenai replied nervously.

"Tug!" Koda ran toward the big bear of the bunch. 

"Koda." Tug smiled.

The two piled on top of each other and laughed, bonding like an uncle and nephew.

"Hey, Tug, have you seen my mom yet?" Koda smiled.

"No, as a matter of fact, I haven't seen her." Tug replied while scratching his ear. 

"We must have beat her here." Teddy said.

"Yeah!" Koda smiled. "These are my friends!"

"They're all with you?" Tug took a look at Kenai and the others. "Those humans too?" 

"We're good." Akito said.

"Us too." The Pokemon added.

"Uh... Hi..." Kenai waved nervously before one bear sniffed him. 

"Huh... I've never seen you at the Run before," Tug said as he approached Kenai. "Where are you from?"

Kenai stammered and stuttered, unsure of what to say. 

'That might be a problem.' Akito thought to himself.

"Look, guys!" Koda pointed out. "Just like I promised. The lights touch the top every single night! I guess getting up there is gonna be harder than riding a mammoth." 

Akito began to make signs of him not mentioning the mammoths.

"Mammoths?" Tug asked before eyeing Kenai oddly. "That's something weird."

"Yeah, he does a lot of weird stuff," Koda replied. "Like the way he drinks water with a leaf. He's never sharpened his claws on a tree, he's never hibernated before, he doesn't pick his own fleas--"

"Okay, I think that's enough honey for you!" Akito smiled nervously as he covered Koda's muzzle. 

"Um, yeah." Teddy nervously nodded in agreement.

"He's kinda jumpy, isn't he?" Tug commented about Kenai as he went off to talk with Koda in private and looked to Teddy. "I can't say I've seen a bear with a crescent birthmark before."

"I'm an Ursaring." Teddy smiled to Tug. 

"Ohh, you must be a Pokemon then." Tug said.

"You've heard of Pokemon?" Teddy gasped in shock, though in a good way. 

"That's right." Tug said.

"Awesome!" Teddy beamed as that was great news for him and the others.

"They will not hunt you either." Ingrid told Tug about the other humans. 

"That's right." Estelle said.

Akito and Pupitar soon looked to Kenai and Koda as the two privately talked.

"Okay, uh, Koda? I... I gotta get going." Kenai told the cub.

"Well, when you come back, we can get--" Koda began.

"No, I won't be coming back." Kenai shook his head. 

"W-Why not?" Koda frowned.

"'Cuz... Well... It's hard to explain--" Kenai replied, or at least tried to.

"You're leaving?" Tug asked as he suddenly came right behind Kenai which startled him. 

"NO! Well, I... I..." Kenai replied nervously. "I-I mean yes... Uh, well, it's just that, I-I... I mean... I don't belong here and neither do the others."

"Kenai, can't we stay just for today?" Estelle asked.

"Guys, I don't know, we don't belong here." Kenai replied.

"Don't belong?" Tug repeated. "Every bear belongs here!" he then said with a deep chuckle. "And since you're all harmless humans, you can stay too, though I'm not sure if you'd like raw fish since you humans usually heat your food before you eat it."

"We'll manage." Akito said.

"Well, welcome to the Salmon Run, buddies!" Tug chuckled.

They were soon shown around the Salmon Run. 

"Let's have some fun!" Tug smiled.

Teddy smiled back as he felt like one of the bears since he was an Ursaring after all. Kenai looked all around as he saw the other bears having the time of their lives while Koda looked excited. And where he never expected this from adult bears. Teddy soon ran and jumped into the water, splashing with the other bears and soon caught his very own salmon. Estelle clapped and giggled for her Pokemon.

Odette and Derek were impressed with Teddy. Koda laughed as he soon showed Kenai around. Ingrid watched as she let Roshan go with Kabu and the others before her eyes flashed and she saw a distant vision. The very distant future for her friends and they were all grown up, starting their own families and lives, and where she was happy for them. Teddy laughed as the Salmon Run felt like bear paradise for him and the others, and where Kenai started to see bears differently. Akito, Estelle, Felicity, Vincent, and Ingrid put their feet in the water and then slid in to sit together like they were in a Jacuzzi.

They all enjoyed their time there. Even the Pokemon had a lot of fun, though Teddy had the most fun since he was practically a bear himself. Overtime, Kenai found himself also having fun with Koda and the others as he really now got into being a bear, and he even caught a salmon. Everyone had all sorts of fun at the Salmon Run, even the non-bears.

Later on...

"All right, all right, settle down, everyone," Tug smiled to everyone as he held a fish in his paws. "Settle down, please... We--Hey! don't throw your fish bones over there. Somebody could choke on that. Look, okay, I'll go first."

"What's happening?" Teddy asked Koda.

"We pass the fish around and tell each other a story about the most interesting thing that's happened to us this year." Koda explained.

"Ooh." Teddy smiled.

"Okay, okay, I'll go first," Tug chuckled to the others. "Let's see... The most interesting thing that happened to me this year. Hmm... Oh, I know, I know, I know! Listen to this, I'd say it was when I finally knocked down that tree that was blocking the view from my cave. Now I got a family of chipmunks staying at my place." he then concluded with a laugh.

"Uh, Tug, I don't think they find it funny." Teddy said as they all suddenly noticed a family of chipmunks.

"Um... Uh... Alright, alright, everybody!" Tug quickly changed the subject. "Come on, let me see some paws in the air, who's gonna be next?"

The other bears clamored, trying to get his attention.

"Watch me!" Tug smirked before pretending to throw the fish at first. "HA! Gotcha..." he then tossed the fish to an elderly female bear.

"This year, I lost my dear husband Edgar." The old bear frowned as she caught the fish.

"QUIT TELLIN' EVERYONE I'M DEAD!" An elderly male bear voice told her.

"Sometimes I can still hear his voice!" The old woman bear cried as she tossed the fish.

"I'm getting the next one." Koda told the others.

"Okay." Akito whispered.

Another bear grabbed the fish and began to tell a story in a different language which wasn't understood by anyone, but him. Everyone else just awkwardly stared at him until he then laughed which made them force laughter back to him just to be polite, and he soon threw the fish for one of the other bears to catch. 

"This is it!" Koda beamed as he ran after the fish. "I got it! I got it!" He then slipped and fell, missing the fish.

"I guess it's our turn," An older bear smirked as he took the fish as he sat with an older female bear he obviously had feelings for. "This is the year, I met the most gorgeous--"

"No, you're gorgeous~" The female bear nuzzled up to him.

"You're gorgeouser." The male bear smirked suavely.

"Get a cave!" Tug smirked playfully.

The foreign bear grumbled and rolled his eyes.

"If only Edgar was alive." The old female bear sniffled.

"I TOLD YA, I'M RIGHT HERE!" An old male bear's voice called back.

"Is something wrong with her?" Estelle whispered to Koda.

"I never know about her to be honest." Koda shrugged honestly.

"I love you, Buttercup!" The older male bear soon tackled the love of his life as he tossed the fish.

"This has gotta be it!" Koda jumped for the fish only for Kenai to catch it.

"Here you go, Koda." Kenai handed the fish to the cub.

"No, Kenai, you have to do it." Koda told him.

"What?" Kenai asked.

"That's right, Kenai," Tug replied. "You caught it, you tell it."

"Come on, Kenai," Akito added. "Tell us a story."

"Um..." Kenai looked around and all of the other bears begged to hear a story from their newest arrival. "Okay, all right, already, all right... Uh, you wanna know what I did this year?"

"YEAH!" The others replied.

"I went on the longest, hardest, most exhausting journey I've ever been on with the biggest pain in the neck I've ever met." Kenai began, obviously talking about Koda.

Koda simply blinked, not knowing how to feel about that.

"Heh... But what do you expect from a little brother?" Kenai smiled before giving Koda a noogie.

"Aww..." The others awed at that.

"Okay, buddy," Kenai smiled as he gave the fish to Koda. "Your turn."

"Go for it!" Teddy added.

"Let's hear it, Koda." Tug chuckled.

"Okay, okay, here we go," Koda smiled before clearing his throat as he spoke quickly. "This year I watched my mom in a life-and-death struggle against all odds battling possibly the most fiercest creature on the face of the earth. Okay, who's next?"

"What?" Kenai laughed a bit.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute," Tug said to the cub. "I think we all want to hear the rest of that one, Koda."

"I thought you might say that," Koda smirked. "Hmm... Let's see... It was probably the fifth or sixth most coldest day in my entire life. Me and Mom were eating fish, having a great time, when all of a sudden, she pushes me into the bushes, and tells me to be real quiet. She says, 'I smell something.', so I started sniffing," he then sniffed to get into the story which startled a fellow cub. "There was something in the woods, running right towards us, getting closer and closer."

"Ooh." Teddy said, playfully scared.

Kenai rolled his eyes, but smiled out of amusement, but his reaction would quickly change.

"And then, out of the trees, jumps the hunter!" Koda continued. "And now there's nowhere for Mama to go. The monster has her backed up against this giant glacier!"

Akito and the others knew this story well.

"The human attacks... POP!" Koda continued. "But Mom's too quick for him. And before he can do it again, she stands up real big, and yells, 'GO AWAY!!!'. Then Mom smells more of 'em. There's a whole pack comin' right at us!"

Teddy didn't like the way this was going.

"She runs out to stop them before they can get to me," Koda soon concluded as Kenai looked horrified. "And all around they're poking her with sticks. The whole thing broke, and they fell into the water. There was ice everywhere! She couldn't hold her breath any longer before... POW! She burst out of the water. I've never been so scared in my life."

Kenai now understood.

"Whoa! Fell off a glacier?" Tug gasped at Koda's story. "I've never seen anything like that, can you imagine?"

"Kenai, what's the matter, Kenai?" Koda asked his big brother figure who looked a little sick to his stomach now.

Kenai soon backed up as he felt like he needed to go as he felt incredibly guilty by the story and looked sick. He had killed Koda's mother and he didn't even realize it until now. He soon ran off while Koda wasn't looking. He ran into Tug at first, but he kept running.

"She got out of the water, okay, but that's how we got separated," Koda told the other bears as he concluded his story. "Right after that, I met Kenai," he then noticed that the older bear was no longer there. "Kenai?"

Roshan wondered where Kenai was. He soon went off on his own to find the young man who had been transformed into a bear by The Great Spirits.


	8. Chapter 8

"We better look for Kenai," Ingrid told the others. "Guilt probably caught up with him. I have seen the future."

"And was it a happy one?" Estelle asked.

"For the most part," Ingrid replied. "Especially with Jennifer Foxworth."

Vincent blushed. "W-W-What about Jenny?" he then asked nervously about his biggest crush/love interest.

"She is going to be a famous explorer," Ingrid explained. "You and her are going to make a living off of her discoveries and your artwork. She will discover a new species and a new land... That is where you'll come in, Akito, you must face against the one called The Darkest Fairy."

"Ooh." Akito smiled.

"You'll have to pair off with the son of Hubert and Patricia Ellis known as Tormund, or Tor for short." Ingrid replied.

"That sounds super cool!" Akito beamed. "Uh, do you know when this will be?"

"Later later... Much, much later in the future." Ingrid replied mysteriously as always.

"Dang it." Akito groaned.

"Estelle, you and Lee are going to be so happy," Ingrid said. "You are going to have such wonderful kids together. Your daughter is on nearly every sports team like her brother and is even on the honor roll."

"Amazing." Estelle said.

"What about moi?" Felicity asked. "What happens to me?"

"You... You'll be fine..." Ingrid replied, though she seemed to be hiding something. "Come on, let's go find Kenai before he gets hurt."

Felicity frowned as they then went off. "What was that all about?" she then wondered. Mismagius and the others could only shrug as they went along after their friend.

"Maybe I should try a little snooping." Vincent said.

"You snooping?" Ninetails asked in surprise.

"Just to see what Ingrid is hiding." Vincent said.

Ninetails nodded.

They soon walked along and Vincent walked closer to the front of the line to see Ingrid and Kabu up close. "Hey, Ingrid, mind if I walk beside ya?"

"No, go ahead." Ingrid allowed.

Kabu knew what Vincent was doing and allowed it.

"So, what's this about Felicity's future?" Vincent asked the native girl.

Ingrid sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's not a pretty story."

"It can't be that bad." Vincent said.

"Well... Okay," Ingrid replied. "It involves Wilbur Robinson and his family."

"Sounds good so far." Vincent said.

"I suppose so, if you ignore The Ant King and Queen." Ingrid replied.

"Ant King and Queen?" Vincent repeated out of curiosity.

Ingrid looked him in the eyes. "When you went to the Science Fair before Lewis was adopted by Bud and Lucille, did you see a girl who had fire ants?" she then prompted.

"Yeah." Vincent nodded.

"Well, she's going to be very powerful in the distant future and wants to become The Ant Queen for revenge against bullies," Ingrid informed. "She also has a very familiar King by her side." She then showed a picture of an adult version of Lizzy with an adult version of what looked like Simon, as well as Lizzy's Pokemon, Gothitelle as they were both dressed in royal clothing resembling ants.

"This looks bad." Vincent said.

"I'm afraid it is," Ingrid replied. "Such a shame too... Lizzy was such good friends with Franny."

Vincent soon frowned as he now knew why Ingrid didn't tell Felicity.

"I'm really sorry." Ingrid softly told him.

"Thanks, Ingrid." Vincent sighed. He soon went back to the others.

"Well?" Estelle asked. "What's up with Ingrid?"

Vincent soon whispered to her of what Ingrid was hiding. Estelle cupped her mouth. They soon continued to find Kenai and it was about to begin to snow.

Soon enough, they found him feeling so guilty.

"There he is, and there's Roshan with him." Ingrid realized her little brother had gone with Kenai.

Koda soon looked ready to scare Kenai. Kenai just sulked.

"Rawr!" Koda smirked before sitting on him. "Scared ya again, didn't I?"

"Yeah..." Kenai sighed.

"Where have you been?" Koda asked. "You look awful."

"Koda..." Kenai frowned.

"My mom says if you eat too much fish, you should just lie down." Koda advised.

"Koda," Kenai said again. "There's something I--... You know that story you told last night?"

"Yeah?" Koda smiled innocently. 

"Well, I-I have a story to tell you." Kenai replied.

"You do?" Koda asked as he collected some berries to eat. "What's it about?"

"Well... It's kinda about a man," Kenai sighed. "And kinda about a bear... But mostly, it's about a monster... A monster who did something so bad...."

Akito and the others knew what this story was about. Kenai soon told Koda everything, it was hard to admit it, but he had to as the snowflakes came from the sky as winter was coming, and where Koda started to get scared.

"I don't like this story." Koda frowned.

"Koda, your mom's not coming back..." Kenai frowned back to the now orphaned bear cub.

"No... No!" Koda shook his head with tears welling into his eyes.

Kenai tried to get to him, but Koda soon ran off in an emotional outburst.

"Koda, wait!" Teddy called out.

Koda didn't listen to any of them, he just kept running into the snowy forest, and where the others soon chased after him. Koda soon found a tree and began to climb untoward it. He soon then decided to hide there. Once he was there, he began to break down crying once he had found out his mother had been killed and by one of his new friends. This was the worst day of his life.

"Koda?!" Teddy called out.

"Koda, where are you?!" Pupitar called out.

Mismagius floated all around, but couldn't find the bear cub anywhere so far.

"Koda, we're so sorry!" Odette called out.

"We know you're upset, but please, come back!" Kabu added.

"Where could he be?" Derek sulked. "Everything looks the same."

Akito soon took a quick stretch and jumped in the air, beginning to fly to see if he could find Koda anywhere, and where he soon saw where he was. "Guys, I found him!" He then called down to his siblings, cousin, friend, and the Pokemon.

"Thank goodness." Estelle sighed.

They soon all climbed up the tree where Koda was crying about his mother. 

"Oh, it's Bambi all over again." Felicity pouted.

"Koda, we're so sorry about what Kenai did." Akito said.

"Leave me alone." Koda sulked as he turned away from them in pain.

"Koda, we're sorry for what happened," Akito frowned before sighing. "This is my fault."

"No, it's not, it's Kenai's." Koda turned away in misery.

"No, it's really my fault." Akito replied.

"How could it be your fault?" Koda asked. "You're not a hunter like he is."

"No, it's my fault b-because I didn't stop him." Akito frowned.

"What...?" Koda asked. "You could've stopped him?!"

"Koda, I'm sorry, I just--" Akito tried to explain.

Koda glared before swiping at Akito's face with his claws, but luckily, it wouldn't hurt the boy. "GO AWAY!" he then cried out before climbing down to get away from all of them as now hated them too.

Akito sighed as he knew that Koda would possibly learn a lesson, but didn't know what it would be yet. He then joined the others. The others then flinched from the scar.

"It's okay, it didn't hurt." Akito said before using his magic to make the scar go away so when they would meet their parents again, Mo wouldn't flip out or have a heart attack out of worry and panic for his safety.

"Well, we better get to the mountain." Kenai frowned.

"Yes..." Ingrid agreed. "Come on, Kabu, we have some climbing to do."

"Yes, Ingrid." Kabu nodded to his trainer.

After they left, Koda came out of his hiding place.

A wolf spirit guide and an eagle spirit guide soon came to see Denahi and Sitka.

"Sitka, I know how you feel about that bear, but you shouldn't chase after it for the rest of your life." Sitka advised his brother. 

"It killed Kenai, Sitka, thanks to my foolishness, he's dead and I won't rest until that bear is also dead!" Denahi shivered.

"But killing it won't bring him back." Sitka said.

"I guess you're right..." Denahi sighed.

"Denahi, I could've died myself after saving you guys, I don't want you to make the same mistake," Sitka replied maturely since he was the oldest after all. "Besides, Runar and Nadia says you shouldn't harm an innocent animal."

"It's not innocent, it killed our brother!" Denahi reminded him. 

"You don't know that, maybe something else did or maybe he's just lost." Sitka replied, trying to reason with his brother.

"But--" Denahi started.

"But nothing," Sitka replied. "Denahi, I think you need to relax. Ever since Kenai's gone missing, you've been obsessed with this bear."

"You're right." Denahi frowned.

Sitka gently patted Denahi on the shoulders. The wolf and eagle seemed to admire this as they were the boys' spirit animal guides from their totems.


	9. Chapter 9

Rutt and Tuke were soon walking by and seeming to have an argument as one of their antlers had broken off.

"I can't believe you did that." Tuke huffed.

"Look, I am sorry!" Rutt replied.

"If I was driving, this never would've happened!" Tuke glared. "You never let me do anything."

"Oh, trample off!" Rutt glared back. "I said I was sorry, let it go!"

They soon noticed Koda alone.

"Hey, look, it's that little cub," Tuke said to his brother. "Gee, eh? Somethin's buggin' him."

"What's wrong, Smallish Bear?" Rutt asked Koda.

"Nothing... I'm fine." Koda sniffled.

"Good, now where was I?" Tuke asked himself before remembering.

"Oh, yeah," he then got in his brother's face before storming off to join Koda's side. "You're a big, selfish, reckless hoofer. What? I'm fed up with it. From now on, he's my new brother."

"You can't do that!" Rutt gaped at his brother.

"Sorry, you've been replaced by my dear brother--" Tuke said, nuzzling against the cub before looking lost. "Gee, I forget your name, what's your name again?"

"I don't want any more brothers!" Koda sulked before he soon got away from them.

"See? He's had enough of you too, eh!" Tuke glared at Rutt.

"Oh, come on, I promise I'll change!" Rutt replied.

"You'll never change." Tuke frowned.

"Being a brother means nothing to you..."

"'Course it does, eh?" Rutt replied.

"Oh, yeah, like what?" Tuke asked.

"What about that time your hooves froze in the pond?" Rutt began. "Who sat with ya all winter, eh?"

"You did." Tuke replied.

"And who showed you where the good grazing is?" Rutt continued. "The really tender stuff all covered in dew. Now, why do you think I did that, eh?"

Tuke waited to hear the answer.

"Because I... Because I love... Dew." Rutt told his brother. 

"Excuse me?" Tuke replied. "I don't believe I heard what you said."

"I said 'I love dew'." Rutt repeated.

"I love dew too, eh?" Tuke frowned.

"Hey..." Rutt said as he came behind his brother. "I can change."

"Go away, eh?" Tuke turned away from him.

"Come on, I can change..." Rutt said as he tried to tickle him with his antlers.

"Quit it, eh?" Tuke told him.

"I can chaaaange!" Rutt smirked as he leaned up against his brother, touching his fur with his antlers.

This made Tuke laugh out of being ticklish before laughing and wiggling on the ground while Rutt tickled him, and this showed that brothers always forgive each other no matter what.

"Like, we'll see ya later, Smallish Bear." Rutt told Koda as he ruffled the top of his head with a back hoof.

"Yeah, good day, eh?" Tuke added as he joined Rutt. "Hey, you know what this calls for? A pile of delicious barley and amber weed on a cool bed of malted hops."

"I like it." Rutt agreed.

Koda soon found that as a lesson.

Meanwhile, the storm was getting much worse as the wind blew and snow blurried all around.

'Ugh, I can barely see in this storm!" Akito complained as he tried to stay strong since he was so much like his father. "The flakes feel like daggers!"

"Spirits!" Ingrid called out. "Please show yourselves!"

The clouds seemed to open up and suddenly, everyone was surrounded by their spirit animal guides to help them through the forest as not even the Pokemon could help them now and were beginning to freeze to near death.

"Whew." Ingrid shivered.

"Okay, guys, you did your best." Felicity sighed shakily as she returned Mismagius to her Pokeball which made everyone follow suit so the Pokemon could get some rest and get warm.

Koda was soon seen catching up to them and where so did Denahi and Sitka. Kenai panted and grunted as he begged to be changed back into a human, but he then thought about how lonely Koda would be without him. Felicity sniffled as she shivered, but she didn't get sick because she was immune to illness.

"Come on, guys, we can do it," Vincent said while shivering. "Akito, I know you of all people can do this. You won the sled dog race with Balto when Estelle and those other kids got sick."

"And don't forget that one time when you went out to find me and Aleu." Estelle added.

"Yes... That's right..." Akito replied. "That's also when we met Ingrid..."

"Akito, you are a Super Boy, and you're off to bigger and better things." Ingrid motivated.

"Yeah, but I could have stopped Kenai from killing Koda's mother." Akito frowned.

"You knew that Kenai had to learn his lesson about bears somehow." Vincent said.

"I prevented Sitka from dying, I couldn't saved Koda's mother..." Akito replied. "How am I gonna be Koda's friend now?"

"By forgiving yourself." Koda said.

"Koda?" The others looked to see the bear cub.

"I forgive you, Kenai, for...You know," Koda frowned to Kenai who was about to turn back into a man. "You must have just been blinded by anger."

Denahi and Sitka soon came.

"Guys, stop!" Ingrid told the older men. 

"It's okay, Ingrid, we'll save you from those terrible bears!" Denahi glared. 

"Denahi!" Sitka scolded as his brother grabbed his spear.

"But Sitka, that bear--" Denahi started before seeing Kenai turning back to a man.

"Is our brother." Sitka finished once he saw Kenai finally turn back to normal by the Great Spirits.

"And I almost killed him., Denahi frowned before getting an idea of how Sitka knew Kenai was a bear. "You knew he was turned into that bear I saw, didn't you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." Sitka nodded, being more wise than Denahi's destined totem despite himself earning the Wolf of Wisdom. He soon gave Kenai his fur coat as he didn't have anything to wear.

"Kenai?" Koda called out, though it sounded like tiny growls to those who couldn't talk to or understand animals. "Kenai, is that you?"

"Yes, Koda, that's really him." Vincent said.

"Koda," Kenai came toward the bear cub. "Koda, don't be afraid. It's me."

Koda backed away at first, but once he heard Kenai talk to him, he instantly recognized him as his foster brother and ran toward him and ran into his arms to give him a bear cub hug, and where this was a heart-touching moment. Denahi soon bowed his head at this as he felt a little bit guilty for trying to hunt his own brother. Kenai knew exactly what he had to do now. Koda frowned as this looked like goodbye while he hugged Kenai. Sitka soon smiled to Kenai and handed his bear totem to him. Kenai accepted it as he now understood how much love was important.

"Kenai?" Koda weakly grunted.

Kenai looked to the bear cub and sighed as he looked back to his brothers. "He needs me."

"You know, he did look better as a bear." Denahi smiled innocently.

Sitka nodded in agreement.

"I wonder how Nita would react to this?" Ingrid whispered to herself about Kenai's childhood friend who he had a secret crush on.

Kenai was happy that his brothers were okay with him becoming a bear, but was concerned if him becoming a bear again would mean they wouldn't be brother's anymore. "But... Guys..." he then said to Denahi and Sitka. 

"It's all right, Kenai." Denahi smiled.

Koda soon saw the spirit of his mother. 

"No matter what you choose, you'll always be my little brother." Denahi smiled as he put the totem around his younger brother's neck.

Sitka smiled proudly as Denahi had matured over the years, even if he was hunting the bear who was their brother all along. The two smiled to each other and soon joined hands. The spirits soon worked their magic on Kenai again as the three brother got into a group hug. Kenai soon changed from a human into a bear just like much earlier which started this whole adventure in the first place. 

Ingrid smiled to this as she was sure that Kenai, Denahi, and Sitka's parents would be proud of this. Koda was soon hugging his mother's spirit after she came down to see him and she looked much friendlier than she did when Kenai was trying to hunt her. After hugging her son, she then went back up to the spirits. Ingrid wiped her eye as she understood how bittersweet this moment was for Koda. Sitka and Denahi's spirit animal guides soon flew up after The Great Spirits once it was time to go back into the afterlife. 

Koda frowned until he looked back to his new big brother before tackling him into a hug. "KENAI!"

"Aw!" Everyone smiled.

After a while, Koda soon went up to Akito. Akito blinked and then looked down to the bear cub. Koda looked back up at him.

"I'm really sorry..." Akito told the bear cub. "Do you forgive me?"

"I forgive and I understand if Kenai had never been turned into a bear, I'd never get to know the real him." Koda said.

"I'm really sorry, Koda..." Akito replied. "I know you must be hurt to lose your mother... I'm sure some of my aunts would know how you feel, especially my Aunt Apple Bloom..." 

"You're okay, Akito." Koda nodded in full respect.

"You too." Akito smiled as he felt relieved to become friends with the bear cub now.


	10. Chapter 10

After they left, they soon went back to the village and where both Kenai and Akito were going to be able to have their hand/paw print on the wall. Tanana lit a torch as she came by the people with a warm smile as it was time for another ceremony. Ingrid followed after her grandmother which made Nadia and Runar very proud of her.

"Sister!" Roshan uttered out with a smile to his big sister.

This was a surprise for everyone that knew this was his first word. Ingrid smiled back to her little brother with a giggle as she walked with Tanana to light the torches and begin the ancient tribal dance of their people. She then came toward him and held him up while rubbing noses with him which made them both giggle to each other. Kenai was now going to live with Koda and the other bears, he had taught Denahi that love was very powerful, and he was going to pass on the wisdom of the story to their people: The story of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear. After finally reaching the wall, it was time for Kenai and Akito to get their paw and hand ready for the wall.

Mo had tears in her eyes while Atticus held her, but they both had proud smiles for their younger son. Koda was sitting with Roshan and the other little kids as Kenai and Akito appeared with their totems around their necks. Denahi ruffled up the fur on Kenai's head before putting his younger brother's paw into the red paint to join the prints on the wall as Akito was also going to participate. After they both put their paw print and hand print on the wall, they were shown that they were now men. No one was prouder than maybe Tanana who was glad that Kenai had learned his lesson about his own totem.

"Ready to go?" Cherry asked.

"Already?" The others asked, even the Pokemon.

"I think it's a good time to go..." Cherry replied. "I trust this visit was very educational for you guys though."

"Oh, Aunt Cherry, it was so unbelievable, you should've seen it!" Estelle gasped.

"You'll have to tell us when we get home." Atticus said.

"Okay, Dad..." Akito replied as he still wore his totem. "Hey, can I keep this?"

"Well, of course," Tanana smiled. "It's yours. Have a safe journey home."

"Thanks, Tanana." Akito smiled back.

After saying their goodbyes, the family group soon teleported back to their homes. Everyone rushed to the thermostat and turned it up to make it warm in the house because it was freezing where they were before.

"Goodness!" Mo gasped. "You must've been out during that blizzard."

"It was so cold that we had to put everyone back into their Pokeballs." Vincent replied.

"We sure did." Akito said.

"Why don't you guys get your blankets and I'll make some hot chocolate?" Mo offered.

"Great!" Akito, Estelle, and Vincent cheered before they went to their rooms.

Mo soon started to make hot chocolate.

"Great kids... Huh?" Atticus asked as he tried to hop up on the counter without breaking it to join his wife in the kitchen, though had some trouble at first.

"Very," Mo smiled. "I wonder if the prophecy had to do with them..." she then wondered about the one from when Cherry and Atticus were first born and were destined to have many adventures together and now their kids had taken over the next generation.

"Who knows?" Atticus shrugged.

"It's a good question though..." Mo replied. "Either way, I'm glad I met you, and--"

Atticus soon hit his head on the stove light before falling off onto the kitchen floor.

Mo tried not to laugh as she knew that didn't hurt him. "I'm glad to have you in my life forever and ever."

"Same here." Atticus smiled as he stood up.

Mo smiled back as she helped him up and dusted him off a bit before she washed her hands to add in special additions to the hot chocolate such as marshmallows and cinnamon.

"I wonder what our future holds for the kids?" Atticus sighed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Drell's voice said before the couple looked to see his picture on the cinnamon package. "Slow down, Atticus! Who do you think you are, Flint Hammerhead?"

"What the--?" Mo asked out of confusion.

Drell soon poofed off the label and soon reappeared. "How was the village?"

"Colder than Enchantra and her sister." Atticus replied with a laugh.

"That's good to know." Drell laughed a bit.

"Making some hot chocolate for the kids, they were in that horrible blizzard yesterday." Mo said.

"Estelle's not sick again, is she?" Drell asked.

"No, luckily there'll all okay, just warming up now." Atticus replied.

"Whew!" Drell sighed in relief.

"So, what's up?" Atticus asked.

"Just wanted to check on you guys without Akito tackling me," Drell replied innocently. "Oh, and also Chris wants another match with you, Atticus."

"Okay... Tell him I'll get there when I can..." Atticus rolled his eyes about Cassandra's father.

"He's wanting to do it on Olympus like the last time." Drell said.

"Is that the time when I took Darla to meet that other Hercules and Xena: The Warrior Princess?" Atticus asked since that trip meant so much to his little sister at the time.

"Uh, no, it would be the Mount Olympus that you all visited that one time after becoming a god," Drell said. "Which would have the gods from this dimension."

"Right..." Atticus remembered now. "That one with Xena was great though... Darla said it was her best birthday ever."

"You were always such a good big brother for her," Drell smiled. "Anyway, I'll tell him that you accept his challenge." He then added.

"Thanks, Drell, but tell him not right now, I wanna hear about the journey the kids had." Atticus replied.

"I doubt he'll be patient, but I understand." Drell nodded to the detective.

Atticus nodded back and Drell soon went back to the Netherworld to get Cassandra's parents and tell them the news of Atticus accepting Chris's challenge yet again.

"Now, where were we?" Mo asked her husband.

"Hot chocolate and talking with the kids." Atticus smiled to his wife.

"Oh, that's right... I'll add some special spice just for us." Mo winked with a giggle.

They soon came into the living room and the kids were sitting on the couch wrapped up in their blankets with their pets in their laps.

"Here you go, kids." Mo smiled.

"Thanks, Mom." The Fudo siblings smiled back as they had their hot chocolate.

Atticus and Mo then sat on the other ends of the couch to join their kids.

"So, tell us all about it." Atticus smiled.

Akito and the others began to tell their parents all about what happened. Snow White, Scruffy, and Dot smiled as they listened to the story. Felicity was also telling the story to Simon and her own parents after Bartok perched onto her shoulder. It was a wonderful and amazing experience for all of them, but the best had to be for Kenai and Koda.

The End


End file.
